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ROMANCE 


OF    THE 


HISTORY    OF    LOUISIAIA 


A  SERIES  OF  LECTURES. 


BV 

CHARLES    GAYARRE. 


UTILE    PI'I.r|. 


NEW-YORK: 
D.  APPLETOX  &  COMPANY,  200  BROADWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA : 
CEO.  8.  APPLETOX,  J4S  CIIKSNUT-8TREET. 

M  DCCC  xr.vur. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1848, 

By  CHARLES  GAYARRE, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Louisiana. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE 


FIRST  LECTURE. 


PRIMITIVE  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY — EXPEDITION  OF  DE  Soro  IN  1539 — 
His  DEATH — DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  IN  1673,  BY  FATHER 
MARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET — THEY  ARE  FOLLOWED  IN  1G82  BY  LA  SALLE 
AND  THE  CHEVALIER  DE  TONTI — ASSASSINATION  OF  LA  SALLE  .  23 

SECOND  LECTURE. 

>4  ARRIVAL   or   IBERVILLE   AND   BIENVILLE — SETTLEMENT  OF   A    FRENCH 

Q  COLONY   IN   LOUISIANA — SAUVOLLE,  FIRST   GOVERNOR — EVENTS  AND 

fc  CHARACTERS  IN  LOUISIANA,  OR  CONNECTED  WITH  THAT  COLONY,  FROM 

J-J  LA  SALLE'S  DEATH,  IN  1G«7,  TO  1701     .        .                %•        .53 

THIRD  LECTURE. 

SITUATION  OF  THE  COLONY  FROM  1701  TO  1712 — THE  PETTICOAT  IN- 
SURRECTION— HISTORY  AND  DEATH  OF  IIIERVILLE — BIF.NVILLE,  THE 
SECOND  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA — HISTORY  OF  ANTHONY  CROZAT, 
THE  GREAT  DANKER CONCESSION  OF  LOUISIANA  TO  HIM  .  119 

FOURTH  LECTURE. 

LAMOTHE  CADILLAC,  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA — SITUATION  OF  THE 
COLONY  IN  1713 — FEUD  BETWEEN  CADILLAC  AND  DIENVILLE — CHA- 
RACTER OF  RicnEBouRfj — FIRST  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE  NATCHEZ 
— DE  i.'EriXAY  SUCCEEDS  CADILLAC — THE  CURATE  DE  LA  VENTE — 
EXPEDITION  op  ST.  DENNIS  TO  MEXICO — His  ADVENTURES — JAL- 

LOT,   THE     SURGKOS  — 1.1    1717    CROZAT    lilVES    UP    HIS     ClIARTKK — Ills 

DEATH  .  171 


.'U2.104!) 


PREFACE. 


IF  every  man's  life  were  closely  analyzed,  accident, 
or  what  seems  to  be  so  to  human  apprehension,  and 
what  usually  goes  by  that  name,  whatever  it  may  really 
be,  would  be  discovered  to  act  a  more  conspicuous  part 
and  to  possess  a  more  controlling  influence  than  pre- 
conception, and  that  volition  which  proceeds  from  long 
meditated  design.  My  writing  the  history  of  Louisi- 
ana, from  the  expedition  of  De  Soto  in  1539,  to  the 
final  and  complete  establishment  of  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment in  17G9,  after  a  spirited  resistance  from  the  French 
colonists,  was  owing  to  an  accidental  circumstance, 
which,  in  the  shape  of  disease,  drove  me  from  a  seat  I 
had  lately  obtained  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
but  which,  to  my  intense  regret,  I  had  not  the  good 
fortune  to  occupy.  Travelling  for  health,  not  from  free 
agency,  but  a  slave  to  compulsion,  I  dwelt  several  years 
in  Frnnce.  In  the  peculiar  state  in  which  my  mind 

2 


10  PREFACE. 

then  was,  if  its  attention  had  not  been  forcibly  diverted 
from  what  it  brooded  over,  the  anguish  under  which  it 
sickened,  from  many  causes,  would  soon  have  not  been 
endurable.  I  sought  for  a  remedy :  I  looked  into  musty 
archives — I  gathered  materials — and  subsequently  be- 
came a  historian,  or  rather  a  mere  pretender  to  that 

» 
name. 

Last  year,  as  circumstance  or  accident  would  have 
it,  I  was  invited  by  the  managers  of  the  People's  Ly- 
ceum to  deliver  a  Lecture  before  their  Society.  The 
invitation  was  flattering,  but  came  in  a  most  inoppor- 
tune moment.  The  Legislature  was  then  in  session, 
and,  as  Secretary  of  State,  my  duties  and  my  daily  rela- 
tions with  the  members  of  that  honorable  body  were 
such  as  to  allow  me  very  little  leisure.  I  could  not 
decline,  however,  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  ;  and 
with  a  mind  engrossed  by  other  subjects,  and  with  a 
hurried  pen,  I  wrote  the  first  Lecture,  whi<5h  is  now 
introduced  to  the  reader  as  the  leading  one  in  this  vol- 
ume. It  happened  to  give  satisfaction  :  friends  desired 
its  publication  :  their  desire  was  complied  with  ;  and 
in  the  June  and  July  numbers  of  De  Bow's  Commer- 
cial Review,  the  discourse  which  I  had  delivered  before 
the  People's  Lyceum  made  its  appearance.  I  attached 


PREFACE.  11 

so  little  importance  to  this  trifling  production,  the  off- 
spring of  an  hour's  thought,  that  I  was  greatly  amazed 
at  the  encomium  it  elicited  from  newspapers,  in  which 
it  was  copied  at  length,  in  several  parts  of  the  United 
States. 

What !  said  I  to  myself,  am  I  an  unnatural  father, 
and  has  my  child  more  merit  than  I  imagined  ?  As  I 
was  pondering  upon  this  grave  question,  the  last  epi- 
demic took  possession  of  New  Orleans  by  storm.  If  1 
ventured  into  the  streets  for  exercise  or  occupation,  I 
immediately  suffered  intolerable  annoyance  from  the 
stinging  darts  of  Apollo,  through  the  ineffectual  texture 
of  my  straw  hat,  and  my  eyes  were  greeted  with  nothing 
but  the  sight  of  dogs,  physicians,  and  hearses.  If  I  re- 
mained at  home,  seeking  tranquillity  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  household  gods  of  celibacy,  indiscreet  visitors 
would  come  in,  and  talk  of  nothing  else  but  of  the  dying 
and  the  dead.  One  day  I  got  into  a  very  sinful  fit  of 
passion,  and  summoning  up  my  servant  George  to  my 
august  presence,  I  said  to  him,  "  George,  you  are  a  great 
rascal,  are  you  not?"  "  Master,  I  do  not  know  exactly," 
replied  he,  scratching  his  woolly  head.  "  Well,  I  do 
know  it,  George,  and  I  am  pleased  to  give  you  that 
wholesome  information.  But  no  matter,  I  forgive  you." 


f  * 


12  PREFACE. 

"  Thank  you,  master."  "  I  deserve  no  thanks  for  what 
I  can't  help :  but  stop,  don't  go  yet ;  I  have  something 
more  to  say."  "  Master,"  quoth  he,  "  I  wish  you  would 
make  haste,  for  the  milk  is  on  the  fire,  and  I  am  afraid 
it  will  boil  over."  "  Out  upon  the  milk,  man,  and  listen 
to  me  with  all  the  might  of  your  African  ears."  George 
took  an  attitude  of  mixed  impatience  and  resignation, 
and  I  continued,  with'  more  marked  emphasis  in  my 
tone,  and  with  increased  dignity  in  my  gesticulation, 
"  Did  you  not  lately  run  away  for  two  months,  for  what 
reasonable  cause,  God  only  knows  ;  and  did  you  not 
come  back  with  the  face  of  a  whipped  dog,  telling  me 
that  you  were  satisfied  with  your  experiment  of  that 
great  blessing,  freedom,  and  that  you  would  not  try  it 
any  more  ?  Do  not  hang  down  your  thick  head,  as  if 
you  meant  to  push  it  through  that  big  chest  of  yours ; 
but  keep  this  in  mind  :  if,  for  a  whole  week,  you  allow 
any  human  body  to  cross  my  threshold,  I  swear  (and 
you  know  I  always  keep  my  word)  that  I'll  kick  you 
away  to  the  abolitionists.  Now  vanish  from  my  sight." 
What  impression  this  order  produced  on  this  miserable 
slave,  I  do  not  know,  but  it  was  strictly  executed. 

After  I  had  dismissed  my  sable  attendant,  I  found 
myself  in  the  same  situation  that  many  people  frequently 


PREFACE.  13 

find  themselves  in.  I  did  not  know  what  to  do  with 
myself.  I  had_neither  a  wife  nor  children  to  quarrel 
with  ;  and  as  to  servants,  I  hate  scolding  them — I  re- 
serve that  for  their  betters.  As  to  my  books,  I  thought 
I  had  the  right  to  indulge  towards  them  in  any  of  the 
capricious  whims  of  a  lover,  and  I  bent  upon  their 
tempting  and  friendly  faces  a  scowling  look  of  defiance. 
One  thing  was  settled  in  my  mind  ; — I  was  determined 
to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  laziness,  and  to  be,  for  a  while, 
an  indolent,  unthinking  sort  of  animal,  the  good-for- 
nothing  child  of  a  southern  latitude.  So,  I  thrust  my 
hands  into  the  pockets  of  my  morning-gown,  and 
lounged  through  every  room  in  my  house,  staring  curi- 
ously at  every  object,  as  if  it  had  been  new  to  my  eyes. 
For  some  time,  I  amused  myself  with  my  small 
gallery  of  paintings,  and  with  a  variety  of  trifles,  which 
are  the  pickings  of  my  travelling  days.  But  alas !  with 
some  of  them  are  connected  painful  recollections  of  the 
past ;  and,  much  to  my  regret,  I  discovered  that  my 
soul,  which  I  thought  I  had  buried  ten  fathoms  deep  in 
the  abyss  of  matter,  was  beginning  to  predominate 
a-jain  in  my  mixed  nature.  I  hastily  turned  my  eyes 
a  contemplation,  which  had  interfered  with  the 
h  coveted  ease  of  the  brute  ;  but,  as  fate  would 


14  PREFACE. 

have  it,  they  settled  upon  some  ancestral  portraits.  As 
I  gazed  at  them,  I  became  abstracted,  until  it  really 
seemed  to  me  that  I  saw  a  sorrowful  expression  steal 
over  their  features,  as  they  looked  at  the  last  descend- 
ant of  their  race.  I  became  moody,  and  felt  that  one 
of  my  dark  fits  was  coming  on. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  I  was  placed  in  this  awk- 
ward dilemma,  either  to  eject  my  brains  from  my  skull, 
or  to  stupify  them.  But  my  pistols  were  not  loaded, 
and  the  exertion  to  do  so  would  have  been  too  great 
with  Fahrenheit  at  100.  I  felt  tempted  to  get  drunk, 
but  unfortunately  I  can  bear  no  other  beverage  than 
water.  Smoking  would,  perhaps,  have  answered  the 
purpose,  if  my  attempts  at  acquiring  that  attainment 
and  all  the  other  qualifications  connected  with  the  use 
of  tobacco,  had  not  resulted  in  a  sick  stomach.  I  was 
in  this  unpleasant  state  of  cogitation,  when  that  number 
of  De  Bow's  Review  which  contains  my  Lecture  on 
the  Romance  of  the  History  of  Louisiana,  canght  my 
sight,  as  it  was  lying  on  my  writing  desk.  I  picked  it 
up,  and  began  to  fondle  my  bantling :  of  course,  I  be- 
came interested,  and  all  my  morbid  feelings  vanished, 
as  it  were,  by  magic.  Oh !  how  charming  it  is  to  have 
a  family !  Ladies,  which  of  you  will  have  me  ? 


PREFACE.  15 

But  I  must  not  wander  from  my  subject.  I  say, 
then,  that  I  had  in  my  left  hand  De  Bow's  Review, 
and,  I  do  not  know  how,  the  right  one  imperceptibly 
exercised  some  sort  of  magnetic  influence  over  my 
pen,  which  was  reposing  close  by,  and  which  flew  to 
its  fingers,  where  it  stuck.  A  few  minutes  after,  it  was 
dipped  in  ink,  and  running  over  paper  at  the  rate  of 
fifty  miles  an  hour,  and  raising  as  much  smoke  as  any 
locomotive  in  the  country. 

The  three  other  Lectures,  which  I  submit  now  to 
the  consideration  of  the  reader,  are  the  result  of  the 
concatenation  of  accidents  or  circumstances  which  I 
have  related. 

When  I  had  finished  my  composition,  like  most 
people  who  act  first  and  then  set  themselves  to  think- 
ing, I  began  to  guess,  as  some  of  my  Yankee  friends 
would  say,  whether  I  could  not  apply  the  fruits  of  my 
labor  to  some  practical  purpose.  I  had  achieved  one 
thing,  it  is  true — I  had  rendered  seclusion  pleasant  to 
myself;  but  could  I  not  do  more?  Would  there  not 
be  sweet  satisfaction  in  extracting  something  useful  to 
my  fellow-citizens  from  the  careless  and  unpretending 
effusions,  the  object  of  which  had  originally  been  to 
ccclerate  the  flight  of  a  few  heavy  hours,  which  I  des- 


16  PREFACE. 

cried  at  a  short  distance,  coming  upon  me  with  their 
leaden  wings  and  their  gouty  feet ! 

To  write  history,  is  to  narrate  events,  and  to  show 
their  philosophy,  when  they  are  susceptible  of  any  such 
demonstration.  When  the  subject  is  worthy  of  it,  this 
is  a  kind  of  composition  of  the  highest  order,  and  which 
affords  to  genius  an  ample  scope  for  the  display  of  all 
its  powers.  But  the  information  so  conveyed,  is  limit- 
ed to  the  few,  because  not  suited  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  many.  The  number  of  those  who  have  read  Taci- 
tus, Hume,  Gibbon,  or  Clarendon,  is  comparatively 
small,  when  opposed  to  those  who  have  pored  with 
delight  over  the  fascinating  pages  of  Walter  Scott. 
To  relate  events,  and,  instead  of  elucidating  and  ana- 
lyzing their  philosophy,  like  the  historian,  to  point  out 

• 

the  hidden  sources  of  romance  which  spring  from 
them — to  show  what  materials  they  contain  for  the 
dramatist,  the  novelist,  the  poet,  the  painter,  and  for 
all  the  varied  conceptions  of  the  fine  arts — is  perhaps 
an  humbler  task,  but  not  without  its  utility.  When 
history  is  not  disfigured  by  inappropriate  invention,  but 
merely  embellished  and  made  attractive  by  being  set  in 
a  glittering  frame,  this  artful  preparation  honies  the 
cup  of  useful  knowledge,  and  makes  it  acceptable  to 


'ft 


1'RKFACE.  1*7 

the  lips  of  the  multitude.  Through  the  immortal 
writings  of  Walter  Scott,  many  have  become  familiar 
with  historical  events,  and  have  been  induced  to  study 
more  serious  works,  who,  without  that  tempting  bait, 
would  have  turned  away  from  what  appeared  to  them 
to  be  but  a  dry  and  barren  field,  too  unpromising  to 
invite  examination,  much  less  cultivation.  To  the  be- 
witching pen  of  the  wonderful  magician  of  her  roman- 
tic hills,  Scotland  owes  more  for  the  popular  extension 
of  her  fame,  than  to  the  doings  of  the  united  host  of 
all  her  other  writers,  warriors,  and  statesmen. 

It  was  in  pursuing  such  a  train  of  reasoning,  that  I 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  publication  of  these 
Lectures  might  show  what  romantic  interest  there  is  in 
the  history  of  Louisiana  ;  that  it  might  invite  some  to 
an  investigation  which,  so  far,  they  perhaps  thought 
would  not  repay  them  for  the  trouble  ;  and  to  study 
with  fondness  what  hitherto  had  been  to  them  an  object 
of  disdainful  neglect.  I  have  attempted  to  accumulate 
and  to  heap  up  together  materials  for  the  use  of  more 
skilful  architects  than  I  am,  and  have  contented  myself 
with  drawing  the  faint  outlines  of  literary  compositions, 
which,  if  filled  up  by  the  hand  of  genius,  would  do  for 
Louisiana,  on  a  smaller  scale,  what  has  been  done  lor 


18  PREFACE. 

Scotland  ;  would  encircle  her  waist  with  the  magic 
zone  of  Romance,  and  give  her  those  letters-patent  of 
nobility,  which  are  recorded  for  ever  in  the  temple  of 
Fame.  An  humble  janitor,  I  have  opened  the  door  to 
those  realms  where  flit  the  dim  shadows  of  the  dead, 
which  are  said  to  be  anxious  to  resume  life,  and  which, 
to  the  delight  of  the  world,  and  to  the  glorification  of 
my  native  land,  might,  at  the  command  of  some  inspired 
bard,  be  made  to  reanimate  their  deserted  bodies. 

Ad  fluvium  (Mississippi)  Deus  evocat  agmine  magno, 
Scilicet  immemores  supera  ut  convexa  revisant 
Rursus  et  incipiant  in  corpora  velle  reverti. 

VIRGIL. 

1  give  to  the  world  these  nugce  series  for  what  they 
are  worth.  As  a  pastime,  I  began  with  shooting  arrows 
at  random,  and  then,  gathering  inspiration  from  the 
growing  animation  of  the  sport,  I  aimed  at  a  particular 
object.  If  the  bystanders  should  think  that  I  have  not 
shot  too  far  wide  of  the  mark — if  the  public,  pleased 
with  one  or  two  good  hits,  should  put  on  his  white  kid 
gloves,  and  coming  up  to  me  with  the  high-bred  cour- 
tesy of  a  gentleman,  should  exchange  a  polite  bow,  and 
by  way  of  encouragement,  should  utter  those  delicate 
compliments  which,  whether  true  or  not,  do  honor  to 


PREFACE.  19 

the  donor  and  to  the  donee,  (for  I  hate  vulgar  praise 
and  coarse  incense,)  I  shall  deem  it  my  duty  to  culti- 
vate an  acquaintance,  which  may  ripen  into  friendship, 
and  I  may,  in  my  endeavors  to  deserve  it,  publish 
another  series  of  Lectures.  Well-meant  criticism,  I 
shall  delight  in,  as  a  means  of  improvement ;  vitupera- 
tion, I  do  not  anticipate  from  one  of  so  gentle  blood  ; 
but  absolute  silence,  I  shall  consider  as  a  broad  hint 
not  to  importune  him  any  more,  and  I  promise  to  act 
accordingly.  The  more  so,  that  from  the  lessons  of 
experience,  and  from  knowledge  of  the  world,  I  feel 
every  day  more  disposed  to  ensconce  myself  within  a 
nut-shell,  and  that  my  ambition  has  dwindled  so  much 
in  its  proportions,  that  it  would  be  satisfied  to  rest  for 
ever,  "  sub  tegmine  fagi,"  with  the  commission  of 
overseer  of  a  parish  road. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  March  1,  1848. 


FIRST  LECTURE. 


THE  POETRY, 


ROMANCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  LOUISIANA. 


FIRST  LECTURE. 

PRIMITIVE  STATE  or  THE  COUNTRY — EXPEDITION  OF  DE  Soro  IN  1539 — 
His  DEATH — DISCOVERT  or  THE  MISSISSIPPI  IN  1673,  BY  FATHER 
MARQUETTB  AND  JOLIET — THEY  ARE  FOLLOWED  IN  1682  BY  LA  SALI-E 
AND  THE  CHEVALIER  DE  TONTI — ASSASSINATION  OF  LA  SALLE. 

HAVING  been  invited  by  a  Committee,  on  behalf  of 
the  People's  Lyceum,  to  deliver  one  of  their  twelve 
annual  Lectures,  I  was  not  long  in  selecting  the  subject 
of  my  labors.  My  mind  had  been  lately  engaged  in 
the  composition  of  the  History  of  Louisiana,  and  it  was 
natural  that  it  should  again  revert  to  its  favorite  object 
of  thought,  on  the  same  principle  which  impels  the 
mightiest  river  to  obey  the  laws  of  declivity,  or  which 
recalls  and  confines  to  its  channel  its  gigantic  volume 
of  waters,  when  occasionally  deviating  from  its  course. 


24  POETRY IMAGINATION. 

But  in  reverting  now  to  the  History  of  Louisiana, 
my  intention  is  not  to  review  its  diversified  features 
with  the  scrutinizing,  unimpassioned,  and  austere  judg- 
ment of  the  historian.  Imposing  upon  myself  a  more 
grateful  task,  because  more  congenial  to  my  taste,  I 
shall  take  for  the  object  of  this  Lecture,  THE  POETRY, 
OR  THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  LOUISIANA. 

Poetry  is  the  daughter  of  Imagination,  and  imagin- 
ation is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  highest  gifts  of  Heaven,  the 
most  refined  ethereal  part  of  the  mind,  because,  when 
carried  to  perfection,  it  is  the  combined  essence  of  all 
the  finest  faculties  of  the  human  intellect.  There  may 
be  sound  judgment,  acute  perceptions,  depth  of  thought, 
great  powers  of  conception,  of  discrimination,  of  re- 
search, of  assimilation,  of  combination  of  ideas,  without 
imagination,  or  at  least  without  that  part  of  it  which 
elaborates  and  exalts  itself  into  poetry,  but  how  can  we 
conceive  the  existence  of  a  poetical  imagination  in  its 
highest  excellence,  without  all  the  other  faculties  ? 
Without  them,  what  imagination  would  not  be  imper- 
fect or  diseased  ?  It  is  true  that  without  imagination 
there  may  be  a  world  within  the  mind,  but  it  is  a  world 
without  light.  Cold  it  remains,  and  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  partial  organization,  unless  by  some  mighty 
fiat  imagination  is  breathed  into  the  dormant  mass,  and 
the  sun  of  poetry,  emerging  in  the  heaven  of  the  mind, 


POETRY  AN  ELEMENT  OF  TRUE  UKEATNES3.    25 

illumines  and  warms  the  several  elements  of  which  it 
is  composed,  and  completes  the  creation  of  the  intellect. 
Hence  the  idea  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and  great  is 
concentrated  in  the  word  poetry.  There  is  no  grand 
conception  of  the  mind  in  which  that  intellectual 
faculty  which  constitutes  poetry  is  not  to  be  detected. 
What  is  great  and  noble,  is  and  must  be  poetical,  and 
what  is  poetical  must  partake,  in  some  degree  or  other, 
of  what  is  great  and  noble.  It  is  hardly  possible  to 
conceive  an  Alexander,  a  Caesar,  a  Napoleon,  a  New- 
ton, a  Lycurgus,  a  Mahomet,  a  Michael  Angelo,  a 
Canova,  or  any  other  of  those  wonderful  men  who  have 
carried  as  far  as  they  could  go,  the  powers  of  the  hu- 
man mind  in  the  several  departments  in  which  they 
were  used,  without  supposing  them  gifted  with  some 
of  those  faculties  of  the  imagination  which  enter  into 
the  composition  of  a  poetical  organization.  Thus  every 
art  and  almost  every  science  has  its  poetry,  and  it  is 
from  the  unanimous  consent  of  mankind  on  this  subject 
that  it  has  become  so  common  to  say  "  the  poetry"  of 
music,  of  sculpture,  of  architecture,  of  dancing,  of  paint- 
ing, of  history,  and  even  the  poetry  of  religion,  meaning 
that  which  is  most  pleasing  to  the  eye  or  to  the  mind, 
and  ennobling  to  the  soul.  We  may  therefore  infer 
from  the  general  feeling  to  which  I  have  alluded,  that 
where  the  spirit  of  poetry  does  not  exist,  there  cannot 
be  true  greatness  ;  and  it  can,  I  believe,  be  safely  aver- 


ZO  HISTORY    OF    LOUISIANA    POETICAL. 

red,  that  to  try  the  gold  of  all  human  actions  and  events, 
of  all  things  and  matters,  the  touchstone  of  poetry  is 
one  of  the  surest. 

I  am  willing  to  apply  that  criterion  to  Louisiana, 
considered  both  physically  and  historically  ;  I  am  will- 
ing that  my  native  State,  which  is  but  a  fragment  of 
what  Louisiana  formerly  was,  should  stand  or  fall  by 
that  test,  and  I  do  not  fear  to  approach  with  her  the 
seat  of  judgment.  I  am  prepared  to  show  that  her  his- 
tory is  full  of  poetry  of  the  highest  order  and  of  the 
most  varied  nature.  I  have  studied  the  subject  con 
amore,  and  with  such  reverential  enthusiasm,  and  I 
may  say  with  such  filial  piety,  that  it  has  grown  upon 
my  heart  as  well  as  upon  my  mind.  May  I  be  able  to 
do  justice  to  its  merits,  and  to  raise  within  you  a  cor- 
responding interest  to  that  which  I  feel !  To  support 
the  assertion  that  the  history  of  Louisiana  is  eminently 
poetical,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  give  you  short  graphical 
descriptions  of  those  interesting  events  which  consti- 
tute her  annals.  Bright  gems  they  are,  encircling  her 
brows,  diadem- like,  and  worthy  of  that  star  which  has 
sprung  from  her  forehead  to  enrich  the  American  con- 
stellation in  the  firmament  of  liberty. 

Three  centuries  have  hardly  elapsed,  since  that  im- 
mense territory  which  extends  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  Lakes  of  Canada,  and  which  was  subsequently 
known  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  was  slumbering 


PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  27 

in  its  cradle  of  wilderness,  unknown  to  any  of  the  white 
race  to  which  we  belong.  Man  was  there,  however, 
but  man  in  his  primitive  state,  claiming  as  it  were,  in 
appearance  at  least,  a  different  origin  from  ours,  or 
being  at  best  a  variety  of  our  species.  There,  was  the 
hereditary  domain  of  the  red  man,  living  in  scattered 
tribes  over  that  magnificent  country.  Those  tribes 
earned  their  precarious  subsistence  chiefly  by  pursuing 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  and  of  the  water ;  they 
sheltered  themselves  in  miserable  huts,  spoke  different 
languages,  observed  contradictory  customs,  and  waged 
fierce  war  upon  each  other.  Whence  they  came  none 
knew  ;  none  knows,  with  absolute  certainty,  to  the 
present  day ;  and  the  faint  glimmerings  of  vague  tradi- 
tions have  afforded  little  or  no  light  to  penetrate  into 
the  darkness  of  their  mysterious  origin.  Thus  a  wide 
field  is  left  open  to  those  dreamy  speculations  of  which 
the  imagination  is  so  fond. 

Whence  came  the  Natchez,  those  worshippers  of 
the  sun  with  eastern  rites  ?  How  is  it  that  Grecian 
figures  and  letters  are  represented  on  the  earthen  wares 
of  some  of  those  Indian  nations  ?  Is  there  any  truth  in 
the  supposition  that  some  of  those  savages  whose  com- 
plexion approximates  most  to  ours,  draw  their  blood 
from  that  Welsh  colony  which  is  said  to  have  found  a 
home  in  America,  many  centuries  since  ?  Is  it  possi- 
ble that  Phoenician  adventurers  were  the  pilgrim  fathers 


28  PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 

of  some  of  the  aborigines  of  Louisiana  ?  What  copper- 
colored  swarm  first  issued  from  Asia,  the  revered  womb 
of  mankind,  to  wend  its  untraced  way  to  the  untenanted 
continent  of  America  ?  What  fanciful  tales  could  be 
weaved  on  the  powerful  Choctaws,  or  the  undaunted 
Chickasaws,  or  the  unconquerable  Mobiliens  ?  There 
the  imagination  may  riot  in  the  poetry  of  mysterious 
migrations,  of  human  transformations  ;  in  the  poetry  of 
the  forests,  of  the  valleys,  of  the  mountains,  of  the  lakes 
and  rivers,  as  they  came  fresh  and  glorious  from  the 
hand  of  the  Creator,  in  the  poetry  of  barbaric  manners, 
laws,  and  wars.  What  heroic  poems  might  not  a  fu- 
ture Ossian  devise  on  the  red  monarchs  of  old  Louis- 
iana !  Would  not  their  strange  history,  in  the  hands 
of  a  Tacitus,  be  as  interesting  as  that  of  the  ancient 
barbarian  tribes  of  Germany,  described  by  his  immor- 
tal pen  ?  Is  there  in  that  period  of  their  existence 
which  precedes  their  acquaintance  with  the  sons  of 
Europe,  nothing  which,  when  placed  in  contrast  with 
their  future  fate,  appeals  to  the  imagination  of  the  mo- 
ralist, of  the  philosopher,  and  of  the  divine  ?  Who, 
without  feeling  his  whole  soul  glowing  with  poetical 
emotions,  could  sit  under  yonder  gigantic  oak,  the 
growth  of  a  thousand  years,  on  the  top  of  that  hill  of 
shells,  the  sepulchre  of  man,  piled  up  by  his  hands,  and 
overlooking  that  placid  lake  where  all  would  be  repose, 
if  it  were  not  for  that  solitary  canoe,  a  moving  speck. 


PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  29 

hardly  visible  in  the  distance,  did  it  not  happen  to  be 
set  in  bold  relief,  by  being  on  that  very  line  where  the 
lake  meets  the  horizon,  blazing  with  the  last  glories  of 
the  departing  sun  ?  Is  not  this  the  very  poetry  of 
landscape,  of  Louisianian  landscape  ? 

When  diving  into  the  mysteries  of  the  creation  of 
that  part  of  the  southwestern  world  which  was  once 
comprehended  in  the  limits  of  Louisiana,  will  not  the 
geologist  himself  pause,  absorbed  in  astonishment  at 
the  number  of  centuries  which  must  have  been  neces- 
sary to  form  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi  ?  When  he 
discovers  successive  strata  of  forests  lying  many  fathoms 
deep  on  the  top  of  each  other  ;  when  he  witnesses  the 
exhumation  of  the  fossil  bones  of  mammoths,  elephants, 
or  huge  animals  of  the  antediluvian  race  ;  when  he 
reads  the  hieroglyphic  records  of  Nature's  wonderful 
doings,  left  by  herself  on  the  very  rocks,  or  other  gran- 
ite and  calcareous  tablets  of  this  country,  will  he  not 
clasp  his  hands  in  ecstasy,  and  exclaim,  "  Oh  !  the  dry- 
ness  of  my  study  has  fled  ;  there  is  poetry  in  the  very 
foundation  of  this  extraordinary  land  !" 

Thus  I  think  that  I  have  shown  that  the  spirit  of 
poetry  was  moving  over  the  face  of  Louisiana,  even  in 
her  primitive  state,  and  still  pervades  her  natural  histo- 
ry. But  I  have  dwelt  enough  on  Louisiana  in  the  dark 
ages  of  her  existence,  of  which  we  can  know  nothing, 
save  by  vague  traditions  of  the  Indians.  Let  us  np- 


30  EXPEDITION    OF    DE    SOTO. 

proach  those  times  where  her  historical  records  begin 
to  assume  some-distinct  shape. 

On  the  31st  of  May,  1539,  the  bay  of  Santo  Spiritu, 
in  Florida,  presented  a  curious  spectacle.  Eleven  ves- 
sels of  quaint  shape,  bearing  the  broad  banner  of  Spain, 
were  moored  close  to  the  shore  ;  one  thousand  men  of 
infantry,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  cavalry, 
fully  equipped,  were  landing  in  proud  array  under  the 
command  of  Hernando  De  Soto,  one  of  the  most  illus- 
trious companions  of  Pizarro  in  the  conquest  of  Peru, 
and  reputed  one  of  the  best  lances  of  Spain  !  "  When 
he  led  in  the  van  of  battle,  so  powerful  was  his  charge," 
says  the  old  chronicler  of  his  exploits,  "  so  broad  was 
the  bloody  passage  which  he  carved  out  in  the  ranks  of 
the  enemy,  that  ten  of  his  men  at  arms  could  with  ease 
follow  him  abreast."  He  had  acquired  enormous  wealth 
in  Peru,  and  might  have  rested  satisfied,  a  knight  of 
renown,  in  the  government  of  St.  Jago  de  Cuba,  in  the 
sweet  enjoyment  of  youth  and  of  power,  basking  in  the 
smiles  of  his  beautiful  wife,  Isabella  de  Bobadilla.  But 
his  adventurous  mind  scorns  such  inglorious  repose, 
and  now  he  stands  erect  and  full  of  visions  bright,  on 
the  sandy  shore  of  Florida,  whither  he  comes,  with 
feudal  pride,  by  leave  of  the  king,  to  establish  nothing 
less  than  a  marquisate,  ninety  miles  long  by  forty-five 
miles  wide,  and  there  to  rule  supreme,  a  governor  for 
life,  of  all  the  territory  that  he  can  subjugate.  Not 


EXPEDITION    OF    DE    SOTO.  31 

unmindful  he,  the  Christian  knight,  the  hater  and  con- 
queror of  Moorish  infidelity,  of  the  souls  of  his  future 
vassals  ;  for,  twenty-two  ecclesiastics  accompany  him 
to  preach  the  word  of  God.  Among  his  followers  are 
gentlemen  of  the  best  blood  of  Spain  and  of  Portugal : 
Don  Juan  de  Guzman  ;  Pedro  Calderon,  who,  by  his 
combined  skill  and  bravery,  had  won  the  praises  of 
Gonzalvo  de  Cordova,  yclept  "the  great  captain;" 
Vasconcellos  de  Silva,  of  Portugal,  who  for  birth  and 
courage  knew  no  superior ;  Nuno  Tobar,  a  knight 
above  fear  and  reproach  ;  and  Muscoso  de  Alvarado, 
whom  that  small  host  of  heroes  ranked  in  their  estima- 
tion next  to  De  Soto  himself.  But  I  stop  an  enumera- 
tion which,  if  I  did  justice  to  all,  would  be  too  long. 

What  materials  for  romance !  Here  is  chivalry, 
with  all  its  glittering  pomp,  its  soul-stirring  aspirations, 
in  full  march,  with  its  iron  heels  and  gilded  spurs, 
towards  the  unknown  and  hitherto  unexplored  soil  of 
Louisiana.  In  sooth,  it  must  have  been  a  splendid  .. 
sight !  Let  us  look  at  the  glorious  pageantry  as  it 
sweeps  by,  through  the  long  vistas  of  those  pine  woods! 
How  nobly  they  bear  themselves,  those  bronzed  sons 
of  Spain,  clad  in  refulgent  armor !  How  brave  that 
music  sounds !  How  fleet  they  move,  those  Andalusian 
chargers,  with  arched  necks  and  dilated  nostrils !  But 
the  whole  train  suddenly  halts  in  that  verdant  valley, 
by  that  bubbling  stream,  shaded  by  those  venerable 


32  EXPEDITION    OF    DE    SOTO. 

oaks  with  gray  moss  hanging  from  their  branches  in 
imitation  of  the  whitening  beard  of  age.  Does  not  the 
whole  encampment  rise  distinct  upon  your  minds  ? 

The  tents  with  gay  pennons,  with  armorial  bear- 
ings ;  the  proud  steed  whose  impatient  foot  spurns  the 
ground  ;  those  men  stretched  on  the  velvet  grass  and 
recruiting  their  wearied  strength  by  sleep  ;  some  sing- 
ing old  Castilian  or  Moorish  roundelays ;  others  musing 
on  the  sweet  rulers  of  their  souls,  left  in  their  distant 
home  ;  a  few  kneeling  before  the  officiating  priest,  at 
the  altar  which  a  moment  sufficed  for  their  pious  ardor 
to  erect,  under  yonder  secluded  bower ;  some  burnish- 
ing their  arms,  others  engaged  in  mimic  warfare  and 
trials  of  skill  or  strength  ;  De  Soto  sitting  apart  with 
his  peers  in  rank  if  not  in  command,  and  intent  upon 
developing  to  them  his  plans  of  conquest,  while  the 
dusky  faces  of  some  Indian  boys  and  women  in  the 
background  express  wild  astonishment.  None  of  the 
warriors  of  that  race  are  to  be  seen  ;  they  are  reported 
to  be  absent  on  a  distant  hunting  excursion.  But, 
rnethinks  that  at  times  I  spy  through  the  neighboring 
thickets  the  fierce  glance  of  more  than  one  eye,  spark- 
ling with  the  suppressed  fury  of  anticipated  revenge. 
What  a  scene  !  and  would  it  not  afford  delight  to  the 
poet's  imagination  or  to  the  painter's  eye  ? 

In  two  ponderous  volumes,  the  historian  Garcillasso 
relates  the  thousand  incidents  of  that  romantic  expedi- 


EXPEDITION    OF    DE    SOTO.  33 

tion.  What  more  interesting  than  the  reception  of 
Soto  at  the  court  of  the  Princess  Cofachiqui,  the  Dido 
of  the  wilderness !  What  battles,  what  victories  over 
men,  over  the  elements  themselves,  and  over  the  end- 
less obstacles  thrown  out  by  rebellious  nature  !  What 
incredible  physical  difficulties  overcome  by  the  advanc- 
ing host!  How  heroic  is  the  resistance  of  the  Mobiliens 
and  of  the  Alabamas !  With  what  headlong  fury  those 
denizens  of  the  forest  rush  upon  the  iron  clad  warriors, 
and  dare  the  thunders  of  those  whom  they  take  to  be 
the  children  of  the  sun  !  How  splendidly  described  is 
the  siege  of  Mobile,  where  women  fought  like  men, 
and  wrapped  themselves  up  in  the  flames  of  their  de- 
stroyed city  rather  than  surrender  to  their  invaders! 

But  let  the  conquering  hero  beware  !  Now  he  is 
encamped  on  the  territory  of  the  Chickasaws,  the  most 
ferocious  of  the  Indiaa  tribes.  And  lucky  was  it  that 
Soto  was  as  prudent  as  he  was  brave,  and  slept  equally 
prepared  for  the  defence  and  for  the  attack.  Hark !  in 
the  dead  of  a  winter's  night,  when  the  cold  wind  of  the 
north,  in  the  month  of  January,  1541,  was  howling 
through  the  leafless  trees,  a  simultaneous  howl  was 
heard,  more  hideous  far  than  the  voice  of  the  tempest. 
The  Indians  rush  impetuous,  with  firebrands,  and  the 
thatched  roofs  which  sheltered  the  Spaniards  are  soon 
on  fire,  threatening  them  with  immediate  destruction. 
The  horses  rearing  and  plunging  in  wild  aflriiiht.  and 


34  EXPEDITION    OF    DE    SOTO. 

breaking  loose  from  their  ligaments ;  the  undaunted 
Spaniards,  half  naked,  struggling  against  the  devouring 
element  and  the  unsparing  foe  ;  the  desperate  deeds  of 
valor  executed  by  Soto  and  his  companions  ;  the  deep- 
toned  shouts  of  St.  Jago  and  Spain  to  the  rescue  ;  the 
demon-like  shrieks  of  the  red  warriors ;  the  final  over- 
throw of  the  Indians  ;  the  hot  pursuit  by  the  light  of 
the  flaming  village  ; — form  a  picture  highly  exciting  to 
the  imagination,  and  cold  indeed  must  he  be  who  does 
not  take  delight  in  the  strange  contrast  of  the  heroic 
warfare  of  chivalry  on  one  side,  and  of  the  untutored 
courage  of  man  in  his  savage  state,  on  the  other, 

It  would  be  too  long  to  follow  Soto  in  his  peregri- 
nations during  two  years,  through  part  of  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  and  Tennessee.  At  last  he  stands  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  near  the  spot  where  now 
flourishes  the  Egyptian  named  city  of  Memphis.  He 
crosses  the  mighty  river,  and  onward  he  goes,  up  to 
the  White  River,  while  roaming  over  the  territory  of 
the  Arkansas.  Meeting  with  alternate  hospitality  and* 
hostility  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  he  arrives  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Red  River,  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana.  There  he  was  fated  to  close 
his  adventurous  career. 

Three  years  of  intense  bodily  fatigue  and  mental 
excitement  had  undermined  the  hero's  constitution. 
Alas !  well  might  the  spirit  droop  within  him !  He  had 


EXPEDITION    OF    DE    SOTO.  35 

landed  on  the  shore  of  the  North  American  continent 
with  high  hopes,  dreaming  of  conquest  over  wealthy 
nations  and  magnificent  cities.  What  had  he  met  ? 
Interminable  forests,  endless  lagoons,  inextricable 
marshes,  sharp  and  continual  conflicts  with  men  little 
superior,  in  his  estimation,  to  the  brutish  creation.  He 
who  in  Spain  was  cheered  by  beauty's  glance,  by  the 
songs  of  the  minstrel,  when  he  sped  to  the  contest  with 
adversaries  worthy  of  his  prowess,  with  the  noble  and 
chivalric  Moors  ;  he  who  had  revelled  in  the  halls  of 
the  imperial  Incas  of  Peru,  and  who  there  had  amassed 
princely  wealth  ;  he,  the  flower  of  knightly  courts,  had 
been  roaming  like  a  vagrant  over  an  immense  territory, 
where  he  had  discovered  none  but  half-naked  savages, 
dwelling  in  miserable  huts,  ignobly  repulsive  when 
compared  with  Castilla's  stately  domes,  with  Granada's 
fantastic  palaces,  and  with  Peru's  imperial  dwellings, 
massive  with  gold  !  His  wealth  was  gone,  two-thirds 
of  his  brave  companions  were  dead.  \Vrhat  account 
of  them  would  he  render  to  their  noble  families  !  He, 
the  bankrupt  in  fame  and  in  fortune,  how  would  he 
withstand  the  gibes  of  envy  !  Thought,  that  scourge 
of  life,  that  inward  consumer  of  man,  racks  his  brain, 
his  heart  is  seared  with  deep  anguish  ;  a  slow  fever 
wastes  his  powerful  frame,  and  he  sinks  at  last  on  the 
couch  of  sickness,  never  to  rise  again.  The  Spaniards 
cluster  round  him.  and  alternately  !™>k  with  despair 


30  DEATH    OF    DE    SOTO. 

at  their  dying  chieftain,  and  at  the  ominous  hue  of  the 
bloody  river,  known  at  this  day  under  the  name  of  the 
Red  River.  But  not  he  the  man  to  allow  the  wild  havoc 
within  the  soul  to  betray  itself  in  the  outward  mien ; 
not  he,  in  common  with  the  vulgar  herd,  the  man  to 
utter  one  word  of  wail !  With  smiling  lips  and  serene 
brow  he  cheers  his  companions  and  summons  them, 
one  by  one,  to  swear  allegiance  in  his  hands  to  Muscoso 
de  Alvarado,  whom  he  designates  as  his  successor. 
"  Union  and  perseverance,  my  friends,"  he  says  ;  "  so 
long  as  the  breath  of  life  animates  your  bodies,  do  not 
falter  in  the  enterprise  you  have  undertaken.  Spain 
expects  a  richer  harvest  of  glory  and  more  ample  do- 
mains from  her  children."  These  were  his  last  words, 
and  then  he  dies.  Blest  be  the  soul  of  the  noble  knight 
and  of  the  true  Christian !  Rest  his  mortal  remains 
in  peace  within  that  oaken  trunk  scooped  by  his  com- 
panions, and  by  them  sunk  many  fathoms  deep  in  the 
bed  of  the  Mississippi ! 

The  Spaniards,  at  first,  had  tried  to  conceal  the 
death  of  Soto  from  the  Indians,  because  they  felt  that 
there  was  protection  in  the  belief  of.  his  existence. 
What  mockery  it  was  to  their  grief,  to  simulate  joy  on 
the  very  tomb  of  their  beloved  chief,  whom  they  had 
buried  in  their  camp  before  seeking  for  him  a  safer 
place  of  repose  !  But  when,  the  slaves  of  hard  neces- 
sity, they  were,  with  heavy  hearts  but  smiling  faces, 


PERILS    OF    HIS    FOLLOWERS.  37 

coursing  in  tournament  over  the  burial-ground,  and 
profaning  the  consecrated  spot,  the  more  effectually  to 
mislead  the  conjectures  of  the  Indians,  they  saw  that 
their  subterfuge  was  vain,  and  that  the  red  men,  with 
significant  glances,  were  pointing  to  each  other  the 
precise  spot  where  the  great  white  warrior  slept.  How 
dolorously  does  Garcillasso  describe  the  exhumation 
and  the  plunging  of  the  body  into  the  turbid  stream  of 
the  Great  Father  of  Rivers  ! 

Then  comes  an  Odyssey  of  woes.  The  attempt  of 
the  Spaniards  to  go  by  land  to  Mexico ;  their  wander- 
ing as  far  as  the  Kio  Grande  and  the  mountainous 
region  which  lies  between  Mexico  and  Texas,  and 
which  was  destined,  in  after  years,  to  be  so  famous  in 
American  history  ;  their  return  to  the  mouth  of  Red 
River  ;  their  building  of  vessels  capable  of  navigating 
at  sea ;  the  tender  compassion  and  affectionate  assist- 
ance of  the  good  Cazique  Anilco  ;  the  league  of  the 
other  Indian  princes,  far  and  wide,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  great  king,  Quigualtanqui,  the  Agamemnon  of 
the  confederacy  ;  the  discovery  of  the  plot ;  the  retreat 
of  all  the  Indian  chiefs  save  the  indomitable  Quigual- 
tanqui ;  the  fleet  of  one  thousand  canoes,  mounted  by 
twenty  thousand  men,  with  which  lie  pursued  the 
weary  and  despairing  Spaniards  for  seventeen  long 
days,  assailing  thorn  with  incessant  fury  ;  the  giving 
up  of  the  chase  only  when  the  sea  was  nearly  in  sight  ; 

321 04!) 


38  THEIR    FLIGHT    FROM    THE    COUNTRY. 

the  fierce  parting  words  of  the  Indians  to  the  Spaniards : 
"  Tell  your  countrymen  that  you  have  been  pursued  by 
Quigualtanqui  alone ;  if  he  had  been  better  assisted  by 
his  peers,  none  of  you  would  have  survived  to  tell  the 
tale  ;"  the  solemn  rites  with  which,  in  their  thousand 
canoes  riveted  on  the  water,  they,  on  the  day  they 
ceased  their  pursuit,  adored  the  rising  sun  and  saluted 
him  with  their  thanksgivings  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
invaders  ;  the  hair-breadth  escapes  of  the  three  hundred 
Spaniards  who  alone  out  of  the  bright  host  of  their 
former  companions,  had  succeeded  in  fleeing  from  the 
hostile  shore  of  Louisiana ;  their  toils  during  a  naviga- 
tion of  ninety  days  to  the  port  of  Panuco,  where  they 
at  last  arrived  in  a  state  of  utter  destitution,  are  all 
thrilling  incidents  connected  with  the  history  of  Lou- 
isiana, and  replete  with  the  very  essence  of  poetry. 

When  Alvarado,  the  Ulysses  of  that  expedition, 
related  his  adventures  in  the  halls  of  Montezuma,  Don 
Francisco  de  Mendoza,  the  son  of  the  viceroy,  broke 
out  with  passionate  admiration  of  the  conduct  of  Qui- 
gualtanqui :  "  A  noble  barbarian,"  exclaimed  he,  "  an 
honest  man  and  a  true  patriot."  This  remark,  worthy 
of  the  high  lineage  and  of  the  ancestral  fame  of  him 
who  spoke  it,  is  a  just  tribute  to  the  Louisianian  chief, 
and  is  an  apt  epilogue  to  the  recital  of  those  romantic 
achievements,  the  nature  of  which  is  such,  that  the 
poet's  pen  would  be  more  at  ease  with  it  than  that  of 
the  historian. 


DISCOVERY    OF    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  39 

One  hundred  and  thirty  years  had  passed  away 
since  the  apparition  of  Soto  on  the  soil  of  Louisiana, 
without  any  further  attempt  of  the  white  race  to  pene- 
trate into  that  fair  region,  when  on  the  7th  of  July,  1673, 
a  small  band  of  Europeans  and  Canadians  reached  the 
Mississippi,  which  they  had  come  to  seek  from  the  fur 
distant  city  of  Quebec.  That  band  had  two  leaders, 
Father  Marquette,  a  monk,  and  Joliet,  a  merchant,  the 
prototypes  of  two  great  sources  of  power,  religion  and 
commerce,  which,  in  the  course  of  time,  were  destined 
to  exercise  such  influence  on  the  civilization  of  the 
western  territory,  traversed  by  the  mighty  river  which 
they  had  discovered.  They  could  not  be  ordinary 
men,  those  adventurers,  who  in  those  days  under- 
took to  expose  themselves  to  the  fatigues  and  perils  of 
a  journey  through  unknown  solitudes,  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi !  That  humble  monkish 
gown  of  Father  Marquette  concealed  a  hero's  heart  ; 
and  in  the  merchant's  breast  there  dwelt  a  soul  that 
would  have  disgraced  no  belted  knight. 

Whether  it  was  owing  to  the  peaceful  garb  in  which 
they  had  presented  themselves,  or  to  some  other  cause, 
the  Indians  hardly  showed  any  of  that  hostility  which 
they  had  exhibited  towards  the  armed  invasion  of 
Spain.  Joliet  and  Father  Marquette  floated  down  the 
river  without  much  impediment,  as  far  as  the  Arkansas. 
There,  having  received  sufficient  evidence  that  the 


40  MARQUETTE    AND    JOLIET. 

Mississippi  discharged  itself  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
they  retraced  their  way  back  and  returned  to  Canada. 
But  in  that  frail  bark  drifting  down  the  current  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  in  which  sat  the  hard  plodding  mer- 
chant, with  the  deep  wrinkles  of  thought  and  forecast 
on  his  brow,  planning  schemes  of  trade  with  unknown 
nations,  and  surveying  with  curious  eye  that  boundless 
territory  which  seemed,  as  he  went  along,  to  stretch  in 
commensurate  proportion  with  the  infiniteness  of  space ; 
in  that  frail  bark,  I  say,  where  mused  over  his  breviary 
that  gray-headed  monk,  leaning  on  that  long  staff,  sur- 
mounted with  the  silver  cross  of  Christ,  and  computing 
the  souls  that  he  had  saved  and  still  hoped  to  save  from 
idolatry,  is  there  not  as  much  poetry  as  in  the  famed 
vessel  of  Argos,  sailing  in  quest  of  the  golden  fleece  ? 
Were  not  their  hearts  as  brave  as  those  of  the  Greek 
adventurers  ?  were  not  their  dangers  as  great  ?  and  was 
not  the  object  which  they  had  in  view  much  superior  ? 
The  grandeur  of  their  enterprise  was,  even  at  that 
time,  fully  appreciated.  On  their  return  to  Quebec, 
and  on  their  giving  information  that  they  had  discovered 
that  mighty  river  of  which  the  Europeans  had  but  a 
vague  knowledge  conveyed  to  them  by  the  Indians,  and 
which,  from  the  accounts  given  of  its  width  and  length, 
was  considered  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  wonders  of  the 
world,  universal  admiration  was  expressed  ;  the  bells  of 
the  Cathedral  tolled  merrily  for  a  whole  day,  and  the 


MARaUETTK    AND    JOLIET.  41 

bishop,  followed  by  his  clergy  and  the  whole  popula- 
tion, sang  a  solemn  Te  Deum  at  the  foot  of  the  altar. 
Thus,  on  the  first  acquaintance  of  our  European  fathers 
with  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  of  which  our 
present  State  of  Louisiana  is  the  heart,  there  was  an 
instinct  that  told  them  it  was  there  that  the  seeds  of 
empire  and  greatness  were  sown.  Were  they  not 
right  in  those  divinations  which  pushed  them  onward 
to  that  favored  spot  through  so  many  obstacles  ? 
Greatness  and  empire  were  there,  and  therefore  all  the 
future  elements  of  poetry. 

Joliet  and  Marquette  were  dead,  and  nothing  yet 
had  been  done  to  take  possession  of  the  newly  discov- 
ered regions  of  the  West ;  but  the  impetus  was  given; 
the  march  of  civili/ation  once  begun  could  not  retro- 
grade ;  that  mighty  traveller,  with  religion  for  his 
guide,  was  pushed  onward  by  the  hand  of  God  ;  and 
ihe  same  spirit  which  had  driven  the  crusaders  to  Asia, 
now  turned  the  attention  of  Europe  to  the  continent 
of  America.  The  spell  which  had  concealed  the  Mis- 
sissippi amidst  hitherto  impenetrable  forests,  and,  as  it 
were,  an  ocean  of  trees,  was  broken ;  and  the  Indians, 
who  claimed  its  banks  as  their  hereditary  domain,  were 
now  fated  to  witness  the  rapid  succession  of  irresistible 
intruders.  , 

Seven  years,  since  the  expedition  of  Marquette  and 
Joliet,  had  rolled  by,  when  Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle, 

3* 


42  LA    SALLE. 

in  the  month  of  January,  1682,  feasted  his  eyes  with 
the  sight  of  the  far-famed  Mississippi.  For  his  com- 
panions he  had  forty  soldiers,  three  monks,  and  the 
Chevalier  de  Tonti.  He  had  received  the  education  of 
a  Jesuit,  and  had  been  destined  to  the  cloister,  and  to 
become  a  tutor  of  children  in  a  seminary  of  that  cele- 
brated order  of  which  he  was  to  become  a  member. 
But  he  had  that  will,  and  those  passions,  and  that  in- 
tellect, which  cannot  be  forced  into  a  contracted  chan- 
nel of  action.  Born  poor  and  a  plebeian,  he  wished  to 
be  both  noble  and  rich ;  obscure,  he  longed  to  be  fa- 
mous. Why  not?  Man  shapes  his  own  destinies 
when  the  fortitude  of  the  soul  corresponds  with  the 
vigorous  organization  of  the  mind.  When  the  heart 
dares  prompt  the  execution  of  what  genius  conceives, 
nothing  remains  but  to  choose  the  field  of  success. 
That  choice  was  soon  made  by  La  Salle.  America 
was  then  exercising  magnetic  attraction  upon  all  bold 
spirits,  and  did  not  fail  to  have  the  same  influence  on 
his  own.  Obeying  the  impulse  of  his  ambition,  he 
crossed  the  Atlantic  without  hesitation,  and  landed  in 
Canada  in  1673. 

When  on  the  continent  of  America,  that  fond  object 
of  his  dreams,  La  Salle  felt  that  he  was  in  a  congenial 
atmosphere  with  his  temperament*  His  mind  seemed 
to  expand,  his  conceptions  to  become  more  vivid,  his 
natural  eloquence  to  be  gifted  with  more  persuasion, 


I.A   >. \i.i.i:.  43 

and  he  was  acknowledged  at  once  by  all  who  saw  and 
heard  him,  to  be  a  superior  being.  Brought  into  con- 
tact with  Count  Frontenac,  who  was  the  governor  of 
Canada,  he  communicated  to  him  his  views  and  pro- 
jects for  the  aggrandizement  of  France,  and  suggested 
to  him  the  gigantic  plan  of  connecting  the  St.  Law- 
rence with  the  Mississippi  by  an  uninterrupted  chain 
of  forts.  "  From  the  information  which  I  have  been 
able  to  collect,"  said  he  to  the  Count,  "  I  think  I  may 
affirm  that  the  Mississippi  draws  its  source  somewhere 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  and  that  France 
will  be  not  only  the  mistress  of  all  the  territory  between 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi,  but  will  command 
the  trade  of  China,  flowing  down  the  new  and  mighty 
channel  which  I  shall  open  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico." 
Count  Frontenac  was  seduced  by  the  magnificence  of 
the  prospect  sketched  by  the  enthusiast,  but  not  daring 
to  incur  the  expenses  which  such  an  undertaking  would 
have  required,  referred  him  to  the  court  of  France. 

To  France,  then,  the  adventurer  returns  with  in- 
creased confidence  ;  for  he  had  secured  one  thing,  he 
had  gained  one  point  ;  introduction  to  the  noble  and  to 
the  wealthy  under  the  auspices  of  Count  Frontenac. 
The  spirit  of  Columbus  was  in  him,  and  nothing  abash- 
ed he  would  have  forced  his  way  to  the  foot  of  the 
throne  and  apjM-aled  to  Majesty  itself,  with  that  assu- 
rance which  genius  imparts.  I3iit  sufficient  was  it  lor 


44  LA    SALLE. 

him  to  gain  the  good  graces  of  one  of  the  royal  blood 
of  France,  the  Prince  de  Conti.  He  fired  the  prince's 
mind  with  his  own  contagious  enthusiasm,  and  through 
him  obtained  from  the  king  not  only  an  immense  con- 
cession of  land,  but  was  clothed  with  all  the  powers 
and  privileges  which  he  required  for  trading  with  the 
Indians,  and  for  carrying  on  his  meditated  plans  of  dis- 
covery. Nay,  more,  he  was  ennobled  by  letters- patent, 
and  thus  one  of  the  most  ardent  wishes  of  his  heart 
was  gratified.  At  last,  he  was  no  longer  a  plebeian, 
and  with  Macbeth  he  could  exclaim,  "  Now,  thane  of 
Cawdor,  the  greatest  is  behind." 

La  Salle  re-crossed  the  Atlantic  with  one  worthy 
of  being  his  fides  Achates,  and  capable  of  understanding 
the  workings  of  his  mind  and  of  his  heart.  That  man 
was  the  Chevalier  De  Tonti,  who,  as  an  officer,  had 
served  with  distinction  in  many  a  war,  and  who  after- 
wards became  famous  among  the  Indians  for  the  iron 
hand  with  which  he  had  artificially  supplied  the  one 
which  he  had  lost. 

On  the  15th  of  September,  1678,  proud  and  erect 
with  the  consciousness  of  success,  La  Salle  stood  again 
in  the  walls  of  Quebec,  and  stimulated  by  the  cheers 
of  the  whole  population,  he  immediately  entered  into 
the  execution  of  his  projects.  Four  years  after,  in 
1682,  he  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  in 
the  name  (as  appears  by  a  notarial  act  still  extant)  of 


LA    SALLE.  45 

the  most  puissant,  most  high,  most  invincible  and  victo- 
rious Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  King  of  France,  took 
possession  of  all  the  country  which  he  had  discovered. 
How  his  heart  must  have  swelled  with  exultation, 
when  he  stood  at  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  on  which 
all  his  hopes  had  centred  ;  when  he  unfurled  the  white 
banner  and  erected  the  stately  column  to  which  he 
appended  the  royal  escutcheon  of  France,  amidst  the 
shouts  of  his  companions  and  the  discharge  of  firearms ! 
With  what  devotion  he  must  have  joined  in  the  solemn 
Te  Deum  sung  on  that  memorable  occasion  ! 

To  relate  all  the  heart-thrilling  adventures  which 
occurred  to  La  Salle  during  the  four  years  which 
elapsed  between  the  opening  and  the  conclusion  of  that 
expedition,  would  be  to  go  beyond  the  limits  which  are 
allotted  to  me.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  at  this  day  to 
overcome  the  one-hundredth  part  of  the  difficulties 
which  lie  had  to  encounter,  would  immortalize  a  man. 
Ah !  if  it  be  true  that  man  is  never  greater  than  when 
engaged  in  a  generous  and  unyielding  struggle  against 
dangers  and  adversity,  then  must  it  be  admitted  that 
during  those  four  years  of  trials  La  Salle  was  pre-emi- 
nently great.  Was  he  not  worthy  of  admiration,  when 
to  the  camp  of  the  Iroquois,  who  at  first  had  received 
him  like  friends,  but  had  been  converted  into  foes,  he 
dared  to  go  alone,  to  meet  the  charges  brought  against 
him  by  the  subtle  Mansolia,  whose  words  were  so  per- 


46  I'A    SALLE. 

suasive,  and  whose  wisdom  appeared  so  wonderful,  that 
it  was  attributed  to  his  holding  intercourse  with  spirits 
of  another  world  ?  How  interesting  the  spectacle ! 
How  vividly  it  pictures  itself  to  my  mind !  How  it 
would  grace  the  pages  of  a  Fennimore  Cooper,  or  of 
one  having  the  magic  pen  of  a  Walter  Scott !  Me- 
thinks  I  see  that  areopagus  of  stern  old  Indian  warriors 
listening  with  knit  brows  and  compressed  lips  to  the 
passionate  accusation  so  skilfully  urged  against  La 
Salle,  and  to  the  prediction  that  amity  to  the  white 
race  was  the  sure  forerunner  of  destruction  to  all  the 
Indian  tribes.  La  Salle  rose  in  his  turn  ;  how  eloquent, 
how  pathetic  he  was  when  appealing  to  the  better  feel- 
ings of  the  Indians,  and  how  deserving  of  the  verdict 
rendered  in  his  favor  ! 

But  the  enmity,  the  ambushes  of  Indians  were  not 
to  him  the  only  sources  of  danger.  Those  he  could 
have  stood  unmoved !  But  what  must  have  been  his 
feelings  when  he  became  conscious  of  the  poison  which 
had  been  administered  to  him  by  some  of  his  compan- 
ions, who  thought  that  by  destroying  him  they  would 
spare  to  themselves  the  anticipated  horrors  of  an  expe- 
dition which  they  no  longer  had  the  courage  to  prose- 
cute !  What  his  despair  was,  is  attested  by  the  name 
of  "  Creve  Casur"  which  he  gave  to  a  fort  he  built 
a  short  time  after — the  fort  of  the  "Broken  Heart!" 
But  let  us  turn  from  his  miseries  to  the  more  grateful 
spectacle  of  his  ovation. 


LA    8ALLE.  47 

In  1684  he  returned  to  France,  and  found  himself 
famous.  He,  the  poor  boy,  the  ignoble  by  birth,  for 
whom  paternal  tenderness  had  dreamed  nothing  higher 
than  the  honor  of  being  a  teacher  in  a  seminary  of  Je- 
suits, was  presented  to  Louis  XIV,  amidst  all  the 
splendors  of  his  court !  That  Jupiter  among  the  kings 
of  the  earth  had  a  smile  to  bestow  upon  the  humble 
subject  who  came  to  deposit  at  the  foot  of  the  throne 
the  title-deeds  of  such  broad  domains.  But  that  smile 
of  royalty  was  destined  to  be  the  last  smile  of  fortune. 
The  favors  which  he  then  obtained  bred  nothing  but 
reverses.  Every  thing,  however,  wore  a  bright  aspect, 
and  the  star  of  his  destiny  appeared  to  be  culminating 
in  the  heavens. 

Thus  a  fleet,  composed  of  four  vessels,  was  put  at 
his  disposal,  with  all  the  materials  necessary  to  establish 
a  colony,  and  once  more  he  left  the  shores  of  his  native 
country,  but  this  time  invested  with  high  command, 
and  hoping  perhaps  to  be  the  founder  of  an  empire. 
That,  indeed,  was  something  worth  having  struggled 
for  !  But  alas  !  he  had  struggled  in  vain  ;  the  meshes 
of  adverse  fate  were  drawing  close  around  him.  Here 
is  not  the  place  to  relate  his  misunderstandings,  degen- 
erating into  bitter  quarrels  with  the  proud  Beaujou, 
who  had  the  subordinate  command  of  the  fleet,  and 
who  thought  himself  dishonored — he,  the  old  captain 
of  thirty  years'  standing,  he,  the  nobleman — by  being 


48  LA    SALLE. 

placed  under  the  control  of  the  unprofessional,  of  the 
plebeian,  of  him  whom  he  called  a  pedagogue,  fit  only 
to  rule  over  children.  The  result  of  that  conflict  was, 
that  La  Salle  found  himself  abandoned  on  the  shores  of 
the  Bay  of  St.  Bernard,  in  1685,  and  was  reduced  to 
shift  for  himself,  with  very  limited  resources.  Here 
follows  a  period  of  three  other  years  of  great  sufferings 
and  of  bold  and  incessant  wanderings  through  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  present  State  of  Texas,  until,  after  a  long 
series  of  adventures,  he  was  basely  murdered  by  his 
French  companions,  and  revenged  by  his  body-servant, 
an  Englishman  by  birth.  He  died  somewhere  about 
the  spot  where  now  stands  the  city  of  Washington, 
which  owes  its  foundation  to  some  of  that  race  to 
which  belonged  his  avenger,  and  the  star-spangled  ban- 
ner now  proudly  waves  where  the  first  pioneer  of  civi- 
lization consecrated  with  his  blood  the  future  land  of 
liberty. 

The  rapid  sketch  which  I  have  given  shows  that  so 
much  of  La  Salle's  life  as  belongs  to  history,  occupies 
a  space  of  fifteen  years,  and  is  so  full  of  incidents  that 
it  affords  materials  enough  for  the  production  of  a  volu- 
minous and  interesting  book.  ,  But  I  think  that  I  may 
safely  close  my  observations  with  the  remark,  that  he 
who  will  write  the  life  of  that  extraordinary  man,  how- 
ever austere  his  turn  of  mind  may  be,  will  hardly  be 
able  to  prevent  the  golden  hues  of  poetry  from  over- 


LA    SALLE.  49 

spreading  the  pages  which  he  may  pen,  where  history 
is  so  much  like  romance  that,  in  many  respects,  it  is 
likely  to  be  classed  as  such  by  posterity. 

Here  I  must  close  this  historical  sketch  ;  here  I 
must  stop,  on  the  threshold  of  the  edifice  through  which 
I  should  like  to  wander  with  you,  in  order  to  call  your 
attention  not  only  to  the  general  splendor,  but  to  the 
minute  perfection  of  its  architecture.  Perhaps,  at  a 
future  period,  if  your  desire  should  keep  pace  with  my 
inclination,  I  may  resume  the  subject  ;  and  I  believe  it 
will  then  be  easy  for  me  to  complete  the  demonstration 
that  our  annals  constitute  a  rich  mine,  where  lies  in 
profusion  the  purest  ore  of  poetry,  not  to  be  found  in 
broken  and  scattered  fragments,  but  forming  an  unin- 
terrupted vein  through  the  whole  history  of  Louisiana, 
in  all  its  varied  phases,  from  the  primitive  settlement 
made  at  Biloxi  to  the  present  time,  when  she  wears  the 
diadem  of  sovereignty,  and  when,  with  her  blood  and 
treasure,  and  with  a  spirit  of  chivalry  worthy  of  her 
Spanish  and  French  descent,  and  of  her  Anglo-Saxon 
adoption,  she  was  the  first  to  engage  in  the  support  of 
that  war  which,  so  glorious  in  its  beginning  at  Palo 
Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  Monterey,  and  Buena  Vista, 
will  undoubtedly  have  an  equally  glorious,  and  I  think 
I  may  add,  a  poetical  termination  in  the  walls  of  Mex- 
ico ! 


SECOND  LECTURE. 


SECOND  LECTURE. 

ARRIVAL  OF  IBERVILLE  AND  BIENVILLE — SETTLEMENT  OF  A  FRENCH 
COLONY  IN  LOUISIANA — SAUVOLLE,  FIRST  GOVERNOR — EVENTS  AND 
CHARACTERS  IN  LOUISIANA,  OR  CONNECTED  WITH  THAT  COLONY,  FROM 
LA  SALLL'S  DEATH,  IN  1687,  TO  1701. 

I  CLOSED  my  last  Lecture  with  La  Salle's  death,  in 
1687.  A  few  years  after,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same 
century,  a  French  ship  of  42  guns,  on  one  of  those 
beautiful  days  which  are  the  peculiar  offspring  of  the 
autumnal  climate  of  America,  happened  to  be  coasting 
the  hostile  shore  of  New  England.  At  that  time 
England  and  France  were  at  war,  and  the  bays  and 
harbors  of  the  British  possessions  were  swarming  with 
the  floating  battlements  of  the  mistress  of  the  sea. 
Nevertheless,  from  the  careless  manner  in  which  that 
ship,  which  bore  the  white  flag  of  France,  hugged  the 
coast,  one  would  have  thought  that  no  danger  was  to 
be  apprehended  from  such  close  proximity  to  captivity 
or  death.  Suddenly,  three  vessels  hove  in  sight ;  it 
was  not  long  before  their  broad  canvas  wings  seemed 


54  IBERVILLE'S  SEA-FIGHT. 

to  spread  wider,  and  their  velocity  to  increase.  To 
the  most  unpractised  eye  it  would  have  been  evident 
that  they  were  in  pursuit  of  an  object  which  they  longed 
to  reach.  Yet,  they  of  the  white  jlag  appeared  to  be 
unconscious  of  the  intention  of  their  fellow-travellers  on 
the  boundless  desert  of  the  ocean.  Although  the  French 
ship,  with  her  long  masts,  towering  like  steeples,  could 
have  borne  much  more  canvas ;  although  the  breeze 
blew  fresh,  and  the  circumstance  might  have  invited  to 
rapidity  of  motion,  yet  not  one  additional  inch  of  sail 
did  she  show,  but  she  continued  to  move  with  a  speed, 
neither  relaxed  nor  increased,  and  as  if  enjoying  a  holi- 
day excursion  on  Old  Neptune's  domains. 

High  on  the  quarter-deck  stood  the  captain,  with 
the  spy-glass  in  his  hands,  and  surrounded  by  his  offi- 
cers. After  a  minute  survey  of  the  unknown  vessels, 
as  they  appeared,  with  outlines  faint  and  hardly  visible 
from  the  distance,  and  with  the  tip  of  their  masts  gra- 
dually emerging,  as  it  were,  from  the  waves,  he  had 
dropped  his  glass,  and  said  to  the  bystanders  :  "  Gen- 
tlemen, they  are  vessels  of  war,  and  British."  Then 
he  instinctively  cast  a  rapid  glance  upward  at  the  rig- 
ging of  his  ship,  as  if  to  satisfy  himself  that  nothing  had 
happened  there,  to  mar  that  symmetrical  neatness  and 
scientific  arrangement  which  have  ever  been  held  to  be 
a  criterion  of  nautical  knowledge,  and  therefore  a  proper 
source  of  professional  pride.  But  the  look  which  he 


IBERVILLE'S  SEA-FIGHT.  55 

flung  at  the  deck  was  long  and  steady.  That  thought- 
ful, lingering  look  embraced  every  object,  animate  or 
inanimate,  which  there  stood.  Ay!  that  abstracted  ._ 

look  an<Lc_pmpressed  lips  must  have  conveyed  meaning  ^  & 
as  distinct  as  if  words  had  been  spoken ;  for  they  pro- 
duced instantaneous  action,  such  action  as  when  man 
prepares  to  meet  man  in  deadly  encounter.  It  was 
plain  that  between  that  chief  and  his  crew  there  was 
that  sympathetic  congeniality  which  imparts  thought 
and  feeling  without  the  use  of  language.  It  was  plain 
that  on  all  occasions  when  the  soul  was  summoned 
into  moral  volition  and  stirred  into  the  assumption  of 
high  and  uncommon  resolves,  the  same  electric  fluid, 
gushing  from  the  heart,  pervaded  at  once  the  whole  of 
that  human  mass.  But,  if  a  change  had  come  over  the 
outward  appearance  of  that  ship's  deck,  none  had  taken 
place  in  her  upper  trimming.  The  wind  continued  to 
fill  the  same  number  of  sails,  and  the  ship,  naiad-like, 
to  sport  herself  leisurely  in  her  favorite  element. 

In  the  meantime,  the  vessels  which  had  been  des- 
cried at  the  farthest  point  of  the  horizon,  had  been 
rapidly  gaining  ground  upon  the  intervening  distance, 
and  were  dilating  in  size  as  they  approached.  It  could 
be  seen  that  they  had  separated  from  each  other,  and 
they  appeared  to  be  sweeping  round  the  Pelican,  (for 
such  was  the  name  of  the  French  ship,)  as  if  to  cut 
her  off  from  retreat.  Already  could  be  plainly  disco- 


56  IBERVILLE'S  SEA-FIGHT. 

vered  St.  George's  cross,  flaunting  in  the  wind.  The 
white  cloud  of  canvas  that  hung  over  them  seemed  to 
swell  with  every  flying  minute,  and  the  wooden  struc- 
tures themselves,  as  they  plunged  madly  over  the  fur- 
rowed plains  of  the  Atlantic,  looked  not  unlike  Titanic 
race-horses  pressing  for  the  goal.  Their  very  masts, 
with  their  long  flags  streaming,  like  Gorgon's  dishevel- 
led locks,  seemed,  as  they  bent  under  the  wind,  to  be 
quivering  with  the  anxiety  of  the  chase.  But,  ye  sons 
of  Britain,  why  this  hot  haste  ?  Why  urge  ye  into 
such  desperate  exertions  the  watery  steeds  which  ye 
spur  on  so  fiercely?  They  of  the  white  flag  never 
thought  of  flight.  See !  they  shorten  sail  as  if  to  invite 
you  to  the  approach.  Beware  ye  do  not  repent  of  your 
efforts  to  cull  the  Lily  of  France,  so  temptingly  float- 
ing in  your  sight !  If  ye  be  falcons  of  pure  breed, 
yonder  bird,  that  is  resting  his  folded  pinions  and  sharp- 
ening his  beak,  is  no  carrion  crow.  Who,  but  an  eagle, 
would  have  looked  with  such  imperturbable  composure 
at  your  rapid  gyrations,  betokening  the  thunderbolt-like 
swoop  which  is  to  descend  upon  his  devoted  head  ? 

Now,  forsooth,  the  excitement  of  the  looker-on  must 
be  tenfold  increased  :  now  the  four  vessels  are  within 
gunshot,  and  the  fearful  struggle  is  to  begin.  One  is  a 
British  ship  of  the  line,  showing  a  row  of  52  guns,  and 
her  companions  are  frigates  armed  with  42  guns  each. 
To  court  such  unequal  contest,  must  not  that  French 


IBEBVILLK'S  SEA-FIGHT.  57 

commander  be  the  very  impersonation  of  madness  ? 
There  he  stands  on  the  quarter-deck,  a  man  apparently 
of  thirty  years  of  age,  attired  as  if  for  a  courtly  ball,  in 
the  gorgeous  dress  of  the  time  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth. 
The  profuse  curls  of  his  perfumed  hair  seem  to  be  burst- 
ing from  the  large,  slouched  gray  hat,  which  he  wears 
on  one  side  inclined,  and  decorated  with  a  red  plume, 
horizontally  stuck  to  the  broad  brim,  according  to  the 
fashion  of  the  day.  What  a  noble  face !  If  I  were 
to  sculpture  a  hero,  verily,  I  would  put  such  a  head  on 
his  shoulders — nay,  I  would  take  the  whole  man  for 
my  model !  I  feel  that  I  could  shout  with  enthusiasm, 
when  I  see  the  peculiar  expression  which  has  settled 
in  that  man's  eye,  in  front  of  such  dangers  thickening 
upon  him  !  Ha  !  what  is  it  ?  What  signify  that  con- 
vulsive start  which  shook  his  frame,  and  that  deathlike 
paleness  which  has  flitted  across  his  face  ?  What 
woman-like  softness  has  suddenly  crept  into  those  eyes? 
By  heaven  !  a  tear !  I  saw  it,  although  it  passed  as 
rapidly  as  if  a  whirlwind  had  swept  it  off,  and  although 
every  feature  has  now  resumed  its  former  expression 
of  more  than  human  firmness. 

I  understand  it  all !  That  boy,  so  young,  so  effemi- 
nate, so  delicate,  but  who,  in  an  under-officer's  dress, 
stands  with  such  manly  courage  by  one  of  the  guns, — 
he  is  your  brother,  is  he  not  ?  Perhaps  he  is  doomed 
to  death  !  and  you  think  of  his  aged  mother !  Well 

I 


58  IBERVILLE  S    SEA-FIGHT. 

may  the  loss  of  two  such  sons  crush  her  at  once !  When 
I  see  such  exquisite  feelings  tumultuously  at  work  in  a 
heart  as  soft  as  ever  throbbed  in  a  woman's  breast ; 
when  I  see  you,  Iberville,  resolved  to  sacrifice  so  much, 
rather  than  to  fly  from  your  country's  enemies,  even 
when  it  could  be  done  without  dishonor,  stranger  as 
you  are  to  me,  I  wish  I  could  stand  by  you  on  that 
deck  and  hug  you  to  my  bosom  ! 

What  awful  silence  on  board  of  those  ships !  Were 
it  not  for  the  roar  of  the  waves,  as  they  are  cleft  by 
the  gigantic  bulks  under  which  they  groan,  the  chirp- 
ing of  a  cricket  might  be  distinctly  heard.  How  near 
they  are  to  each  other !  A  musket  shot  would  tell. 
Now,  the  crash  is  coming !  The  tempest  of  fire,  havoc, 
and  destruction  is  to  be  let  loose  !  What  a  spectacle  ! 
I  would  not  look  twice  at  such  a  scene — it  is  too  pain- 
ful for  an  unconcerned  spectator  !  My  breast  heaves 
with  emotion — I  am  struggling  in  vain  to  breathe!  Ha! 
there  it  goes — one  simultaneous  blaze !  The  eruption 
of  Mount  Vesuvius — a  strange  whizzing  sound — the 
hissing  of  ten  thousand  serpents,  bursting  from  hell  and 
drunk  with  its  venom — the  fall  of  timber,  as  if  a  host 
of  sturdy  axes  had  been  at  work  in  a  forest — a  thick 
overspreading  smoke,  concealing  the  demon's  work 
within  its  dusky  folds  !  With  the  occasional  clearing 
of  the  smoke,  the  French  ship  may  be  seen,  as  if  ani- 
mated with  a  charmed  life,  gliding  swiftly  by  her  foes, 


IBERVILLE'S  VICTORY.  59 

and  pouring  in  her  broadsides  with  unabated  rapidity. 
It  looks  like  the  condensation  of  all  the  lightnings  of 
heaven.  Her  commander,  as  if  gifted  with  supernatural 
powers  and  with  the  privilege  of  ubiquity,  seems  to  be 
present  at  the  same  time  in  every  part  of  the  ship,  ani- 
mating and  directing  all  with  untiring  ardor. 

That  storm  of  human  warfare  has  lasted  about  two 
Hours  ;  but  the  French  ship,  salamander-like,  seems  to 
live  safely  in  that  atmosphere  of  firertwo  hours !  I  do 
not  think  I  can  stand  this  excitement  longer  ;  and  yet 
every  minute  is  adding  fresh  fuel  to  its  intensity.  But 
now  comes  the  crisis.  The  Pelican  has  almost  silenced 
the  guns  of  the  English  52,  and  is  bearing  down  upon 
her,  evidently  with  the  intention  to  board.  But,  strange! 
she  veers  round.  Oh  !  1  see.  God  of  mercy  !  I  feel 
faint  at  heart !  The  52  is  sinking — slowly  she  settles 
in  the  surging  sea  —  there  —  there  —  there  —  down! 
What  a  yell  of  defiance  !  But  it  is  the  last.  What  a 
rushing  of  the  waters  over  the  ingulfed  mass  !  Now 
all  is  over,  and  the  yawning  abyss  has  closed  its  lips — 
horrid  !  What  remains  to  be  seen  on  that  bloody  the- 
atre ?  One  of  the  English  42s,  in  a  dismantled  state, 
is  dropping  slowly  at  a  distance  under  the  wind,  and 
the  other  has  already  struck  its  flag,  and  is  lying  mo- 
tionless on  the  ocean,  a  floating  ruin  ! 

The  French  ship  is  hardly  in  a  better  plight,  and 
the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  show  her  deck  strewed 


GO  B1ENVILLE    WOUNDED. 

with  the  dead  and  the  dying.  But  the  glorious  image 
of  victory  flits  before  the  dimmed  vision  of  the  dying, 
and  they  expire  with  the  smile  of  triumph  on  their  lips, 
and  with  the  exulting  shout  of  "  France  for  ever  !" 

But  where  is  the  conquerer  ?  Where  is  the  gallant 
commander,  whose  success  sounds  like  a  fable  ?  My 
heart  longs  to  see  him  safe,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
well-earned  glory.  Ah  !  there  he  is,  kneeling  and 
crouching  over  the  prostrate  body  of  that  stripling 
whom  1  have  depicted  :  he  addresses  the  most  tender 
and  passionate  appeals  to  that  senseless  form ;  he  covers 
with  kisses  that  bloody  head ;  he  weeps  and  sobs  aloud, 
unmindful  of  those  that  look  on.  In  faith!  I  weep  my- 
self, to  see  the  agony  of  that  noble  heart :  and  why 
should  that  hero  blush  to  moan  like  a  mother — he  who 
showed  more  than  human  courage,  when  the  occasion 
required  fortitude  ?  Weep  on,  Iberville,  weep  on ! 
Well  may  such  tears  be  gathered  by  an  angel's  wings, 
like  dew-drops  worthy  of  heaven,  and,  if  carried  by 
supplicating  mercy  to  the  foot  of  the  Almighty's  throne, 
they  may  yet  redeem  thy  brother's  life ! 

Happily,  that  brother  did  not  die.  He  was  destined 
to  be  known  in  history  under  the  name  of  Bienville, 
and  to  be  the  founder  of  one  of  America's  proudest 
cities.  To  him,  New  Orleans  owes  its  existence,  and 
his  name,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  will  grow  in  the 
esteem  of  posterity,  proportionately  with  the  aggran- 


IBERVILLE    AN!)    IUENVILLE.  61 

dizement  of  the  future  emporium  of  so  many  countless 
millions  of  human  beings. 

The  wonderful  achievement  which  I  have  related, 
is  a  matter  of  historical  record,  and  throws  a  halo  of 
glory  and  romance  around  those  two  men,  who  have 
since  figured  so  conspicuously  in  the  annals  of  Louisi- 
ana, and  who,  in  the  beginning  of  March,  1699,  enter- 
ed the  Mississippi,  accompanied  by  Father  Anastase, 
the  former  companion  of  La  Salle,  in  his  expedition 
down  the  river  in  1682. 

Since  the  occurrence  of  that  battle,  of  which  I  have 
given  but  an  imperfect  description,  Iberville  and  Bien- 
ville  had  been  through  several  campaigns  at  sea,  and 
had  encountered  the  dangers  of  many  a  fight.  What 
a  remarkable  family  !  The  father,  a  Canadian  by  birth, 
had  died  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  serving  his  country, 
and  out  of  eleven  sons,  the  worthy  scions  of  such  a 
stock,  five  had  perished  in  the  same  cause.  Out  of  the 
six  that  remained,  five  were  to  consecrate  themselves 
to  the  establishment  of  a  colony  in  Louisiana. 

Before  visiting  the  Mississippi,  Iberville  had  left  his 
fleet  anchored  at  the  Chandeleur  Islands.  This  name 
proceeds  from  the  circumstance  of  their  having  been 
discovered  on  the  day  when  the  Catholic  Church  cele- 
brates the  feast  of  the  presentation  of  Christ  in  the  tern- 
plr,  and  of  the  purification  of  the  Virgin.  They  arc  flat, 
sandy  islands,  which  look  as  if  they  wish  to  sink  back 


62  THEIR    ARRIVAL    AT    CAT    ISLAND. 

into  the  sea,  from  shame  of  having  come  into  the  world 
prematurely,  and  before  having  been  shaped  and  licked 
by  nature  into  proper  objects  of  existence.  No  doubt, 
they  did  not  prepossess  the  first  colonists  in  favor  of 
what  they  were  to  expect.  The  French  visited  also 
Ship  Island,  so  called  from  its  appearing  to  be  a  safe 
roadstead  for  ships,  but  it  offered  to  the -visitors  no 
greater  attraction  than  the  precedent.  The  next  island 
they  made  had  not  a  more  inviting  physiognomy. 
When  they  landed  on  that  forbidding  and  ill-looking 
piece  of  land,  they  found  it  to  be  a  small,  squatting 
island,  covered  with  indifferent  wood,  and  intersected 
with  lagoons.  It  literally  swarmed  with  a  curious  kind 
of  animal,  which  seemed  to  occupy  the  medium  be- 
tween the  fox  and  the  cat.  It  was  difficult  to  say 
whether  it  belonged  to  one  species  in  preference  to  the 
other.  But  one  of  the  French  having  exclaimed,  "This 
is  the  kingdom  of  cats  !"  decided  the  question,  and  the 
name  of  Cat  Island  was  given  to  the  new  discovery. 
Here  that  peculiar  animal,  which  was  subsequently  to 
be  known  in  the  United  States,  under  the  popular 
name  of  racoon,  formed  a  numerous  and  a  contented 

4(    . 

tribe;  here  they  lived  like  philosophers,  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  and  enjoying  their  nuts — their 
loaves  and  fishes.  I  "invite  fabulists,  or  those  who 
have  a  turn  for  fairy  tales,  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of 
that  grimalkin  colony,  and  to  endear  Cat  Island  to  the 


MOUTII    OF    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  03 

juvenility  of  our  State,  by  reciting  the  marvellous 
doings  of  which  it  was  the  theatre. 

It  was  fraught,  however,  with  so  little  interest  in 
the  estimation  of  the  French,  that  they  hastened  to 
leave  it  for  the  land  they  had  in  sight.  It  formed  a 
bay,  the  shores  of  which  they  found  inhabited  by  a 
tribe  of  Indians,  called  Biloxi,  who  proved  as  hospitable 
as  their  name  was  euphonic. 

On  the  27th  of  February,  1G99,  Iberville  and  Bien- 
ville  departed  from  Biloxi  in  search  of  the  Mississippi. 
When  they  approached  its  mouth,  they  were  struck 
with  the  gloomy  magnificence  of  the  sight.  As  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach,  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  reeds 
which  rose  five  or  six  feet  above  the  waters  in  which 
they  bathed  their  roots.  They  waved  mournfully  under 
the  blast  of  the  sharp  wind  of  the  north,  shivering  in 
its  icy  grasp,  as  it  tumbled,  rolled,  and  gambolled  on 
the  pliant  surface.  Multitudes  of  birds  of  strange  ap- 
]>earance,  with  their  elongated  shapes,  so  lean  that  they 
looked  like  metamorphosed  ghosts,  clothed  in  plumage, 
screamed  in  the  air,  as  if  they  were  scared  at  each 
other.  There  was  something  agonizing  in  their  shrieks, 
that  was  in  harmony  with  the  desolation  of  the  place. 
On  every  side  of  the  vessel,  monsters  of  the  deep  and 
huge  alligators  heaved  themselves  up  heavily  from  their 
native  or  favorite  element,  and,  floating  lazily  on  the 
turbid  waters,  seemed  toga/cat  the  intruders.  Down 


04  ITS    DEsSCKIl'TION. 

the  river,  and  rumbling  over  its  bed,  there  came  a  sort 
of  low,  distant  thunder.  Was  it  the  voice  of  the  hoary 
sire  of  rivers,  raised  in  anger  at  the  prospect  of  his 
gigantic  volume  of  waters  being  suddenly  absorbed  by 
one  mightier  than  he  ? — In  their  progress,  it  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  the  travellers  could  keep  their  bark 
free  from  those  enormous  rafts  of  trees  which  the  Mis- 
sissippi seemed  to  toss  about  in  mad  frolic.  A  poet 
would  have  thought  that  the  great  river,  when  depart- 
ing from  the  altitude  of  his  birth-place,  and  as  he  rushed 
down  to  the  sea  through  three  thousand  miles,  had,  in 
anticipation  of  a  contest  which  threatened  the  contin- 
uation of  his  existence,  flung  his  broad  arms  right  and 
left  across  the  continent,  and  uprooting  all  its  forests, 
had  hoarded  them  in  his  bed  as  missiles  to  hurl  at  the 
head  of  his  mighty  rival,  when  they  should  meet  and 
struggle  for  supremacy. 

When  night  began  to  cast  a  darker  hue  on  a  land- 
scape on  which  the  imagination  of  Dante  would  have 
gloated,  there  issued  from  that  chaos  of  reeds  such  un- 
couth and  unnatural  sounds,  as  would  have  saddened 
the  gayest  and  appalled  the  most  intrepid.  Could  this 
be  the  far-famed  Mississippi  ?  or  was  it  not  rather  old 
Avernus  ?  It  was  hideous  indeed — but  hideousness 
refined  into  sublimity,  filling  the  soul  with  a  sentiment 
of  grandeur.  Nothing  daunted,  the  adventurers  kept 
steadily  on  their  course  :  they  knew  that,  through  those 


TONTI.  05 

dismal  portals,  they  were  to  arrive  at  the  most  magni- 
ficent country  in  the  world  ;  they  knew  that  awful 
screen  concealed  loveliness  itself.  It  was  a  coquettish 
freak  of  nature,  when  dealing  with  European  curiosity, 
.  as  it  came  eagerly  bounding  on  the  Atlantic  wave,  to 
herald  it  through  an  avenue  so  sombre,  as  to  cause  the 
wonders  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  burst 
with  tenfold  more  force  upon  the  bewildered  gaze  of 
those  who,  by  the  endurance  of  so  many  perils  and 
fatigues,  were  to  merit  admittance  into  its  Eden. 

It  was  a  relief  for  the  adventurers  when,  after  hav- 
ing toiled  up  the  river  for  ten  days,  they  at  last  arrived 
at  the  village  of  the  Bayagoulas.  There  they  found  a 
letter  of  Tonti  to  La  Salic,  dated  in  1G85.  That  letter, 
or  rather  that  speaking  bark,  as  the  Indians  called  it, 
had  been  preserved  with  great  reverence.  Tonti  hav- 
ing been  informed  that  La  Salle  was  coming  with  a 
fleet  from  France,  to  settle  a  colony  on  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi,  had  not  hesitated  to  set  off  from  the 
Northern  Lakes,  with  twenty  Canadians  and  thirty 
Indians,  and  to  come  down  to  the  Balizo  to  meet  his 
friend,  who,  as  we  know,  had  failed  to  make  out  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  had  been  landed  by  I3eau- 
jeu  on  the  shores  of  Texas.  After  having  waited  for 
some  time,  and  ignorant  of  what  had  happened,  Tonti, 
with  the  same  indifference  to  fatigues  and  dangers  of 
an  appalling  nature,  retraced  his  way  back,  leaving  a 

r 


(JO  EXPLORATIONS. 

letter  to  La  Salle  to  inform  him  of  his  disappointment. 
Is  there  not  something  extremely  romantic  in  the  cha- 
racters of  the  men  of  that  epoch  ?  Here  is  Tonti 
undertaking,  with  the  most  heroic  unconcern,  a  jour- 
ney of  nearly  three  thousand  miles,  through  such  diffi-' 
culties  as  it  is  easy  for  us  to  imagine,  and  leaving  a 
letter  to  La  Salle,  as  a  proof  of  his  visit,  in  the  same 
way  that  one  would,  in  these  degenerate  days  of  effem- 
inacy, leave  a  card  at  a  neighbor's  house. 

The  French  extended  their  explorations  up  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Red  River.  As  they  proceeded  through 
that  virgin  country,  with  what  interest  they  must  have 
examined  every  object  that  met  their  eyes,  and  listened 
to  the  traditions  concerning  Soto,  and  the  more  recent 
stories  of  the  Indians  on  La  Salle  and  the  iron-handed 
Tonti  !*  A  coat  of  mail  which  was  presented  as  hav- 
ing belonged  to  the  Spaniards,  and  vestiges  of  their 
encampment  on  the  Red  River,  confirmed  the  French 
in  the  belief  that  there  was  much  of  truth  in  the  reci- 
tals of  the  Indians. 

On  their  return  from  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River, 
the  two  brothers  separated  when  they  arrived  at  Bayou 
Manchac.  Bienville  was  ordered  to  go  down  the  river 
to  the  French  fleet,  to  give  information  of  what  they 


*  He  Ij^d  lost  one  of  bis  hands,  which  ho  had  supplied  by  an 
artificial  one  made  of  iron. 


PONTCHAKTRAIN.  07 

had  seen  and  heard.  Iberville  went  through  Bayou 
Mauchac  to  those  lakes  which  are  now  known  under 
the  names  of  Pontchartrain  and  Maurepas.  Louisiana 
had  been  named  from  a  king :  was  it  not  in  keeping 
that  those  lakes  should  be  called  after  ministers  ? 

It  has  been  said  that  there  is  something  in  a  name. 
If  it  be  true,  why  should  not  I  tell  you  who  were  those 
from  whom  the  names  of  those  lakes  were  borrowed  ? 
Is  it  not  something  even  for  inanimate  objects  to  have 
historical  names  ?  It  throws  round  them  the  spell  of 
romance,  and  sets  the  imagination  to  work. 

Louis  Phelyppeaux,  Count  Pontchartrain,  a  minis- 
ter and  chancellor  of  France,  was  the  grandson  of  a 
minister.  He  was  a  man  remarkable  for  his  talents 
and  erudition.  His  integrity  was  proverbial,  and  his 
enlightened  and  inflexible  administration  of  justice  is 
found  recorded  in  all  the  annals  of  the  time.  When  he 
was  appointed  to  the  exalted  office  of  Chancellor  of 
France,  Louis  the  XlVth,  on  administering  to  him  the 
required  oath,  said,  "  Sir,  I  regret  that  it  is  not  in  my 
power  to  bestow  upon  you  a  higher  oflice,  as  a  proof 
of  my  esteem  for  your  talents,  and  of  my  gratitude  for 
your  services." 

Pontchartrain  patronixed  letters  with  great  zeal, 
and  during  his  long  career,  was  the  avowed  friend  of 
Boileau  and  of  J.  H.  Rousseau,  the  poet.  He  was  of  a 
very  diminutive  size,  but  very  well  shaped,  and  had 


68  PONTCIJAUTRA1N. 

that  lean  and  hungry  look  which  Caesar  did  not  like  in 
Cassius.  His  face  was  one  of  the  most  expressive,  and 
his  eyes  were  lighted  up  with  incessant  scintillations, 
denoting  the  ebullitions  of  wit  within.  If  his  features 
promised  a  great  deal,  his  mind  did  more  than  redeem 
the  physical  pledge.  There  is  no  question,  however 
abstruse,  which  he  did  not  understand  as  if  by  intui- 
tion, and  his  capacity  for  labor  appeared  to  stretch  as 
far  as  the  limits  allotted  to  human  nature.  He  was 
constitutionally  indefatigable  in  all  his  pursuits  ;  and  his 
knowledge  of  men,  which  was  perhaps  superior  to  all 
his  other  qualifications,  remarkable  as  they  were, 
greatly  helped  his  iron  will  in  the  successful  execution 
of  its  conceptions.  But,  although  he  knew  mankind 
thoroughly,  he  did  not  assume  the  garb  of  misanthropy. 
On  the  contrary,  his  manners  spoke  of  a  heart  over- 
flowing with  the  milk  of  human  benevolence ;  and  his 
conversation,  which  was  alternately  replete  with  deep 
learning,  or  sparkling  with  vivacity  and  repartee,  was 
eagerly  sought  after.  If,  on  matters  of  mere  business, 
he  astonished,  by  the  clearness  of  his  judgment  and  his 
rapidity  of  conception,  those  he  had  to  deal  with,  he  no 
less  delighted  those  with  whom  he  associated  in  his 
lighter  hours,  by  his  mild  cheerfulness  and  by  his  collo- 
quial powers,  even  on  the  veriest  trifles.  No  man 
knew  better  than  he,  how  to  temper  the  high  dignity  of 
his  station  by  the  utmost  suavity  and  simplicity  of 


PONTCHARTRAJN  -  MAUREPA3.  (39 

address.  Yet  in  that  man  who,  conscious  of  the  misery 
he  might  inflict,  was  so  guarded  in  his  expressions  that 
he  never  was  betrayed  into  an  unkind  one  —  in  that 
man,  in  whom  so  much  blandness  was  allied  to  so  much 
majesty  of  deportment  —  there  was  something  more 
dreaded  far  than  the  keenest  powers  of  sarcasm  in 
others.  It  was  a  smile,  peculiar  to  himself,  which  made 
people  inquire  with  anxiety,  not  what  Pontchartrain 
had  said,  but  how  Pontchartrain  had  smiled.  That 
smile  of  his  blasted  like  lightning  what  it  was  aimed  at  ; 
it  operated  as  a  sentence  of  death,  and  did  such  execu- 
tion that  the  Pontchartrain  smile  became,  at  the  court 
of  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  as  famous  as  the  Mortemart 
wit*  In  1714,  resisting  the  entreaties  of  the  king,  he 
resigned  his  chancellorship,  and  retiring  into  the  house 
of  a  religious  congregation  (Les  pretres  de  1'  Oratoire) 
he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  prayer,  reading, 
and  meditation. 

Jean  Frederic  Phelyppeaux,  Count  Maurepas,  was 
the  son  of  Jerome  Phelyppeaux,  a  minister  and  secre- 
tary of  state,  and  the  grandson  of  Pontchartrain,  the 
chancellor.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  lie  was  appointed 
secretary  of  state,  and  in  1725,  in  his  twenty-fourth 
year,  became  minister.  This  remarkable  family  thus 


*  The  hereditary  wit  of  nil  the  mp.mlxTH  of  that  family,  male  or 
female,  wa*  marked  with  Hiich  peculiar  punirmcy,  that  it  l>ecamo 
proverbial,  and  wan  called  the  Mortemart  wit. 


70  MAUREPAS. 

presented  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  ministers  for 
one  hundred  and  seventy-one  years.  The  obstinacy 
with  which  prosperity  clung  to  her  favorites  appeared 
so  strange  that  it  worked  upon  the  imagination  of  the 
superstitious,  or  of  the  ignorant,  and  was  attributed  at 
the  time  to  some  unholy  compact  and  to  the  protec- 
tion of  supernatural  beings.  Cradled  in  the  lap  of 
power,  Maurepas  exhibited  in  his  long  career  all  the 
defects  which  are  usually  observed  to  grow  with  the 
growth  of  every  spoiled  child  of  fortune.  He  was  as 
capricious  as  the  wind,  and  as  light  as  the  feather  with 
which  it  delights  to  gambol.  The  frivolity  of  his 
character  was  such  that  it  could  not  be  modified  even 
by  extreme  old  age.  Superficial  in  every  thing,  he  was 
incapable  of  giving  any  serious  attention  to  such  mat- 
ters as  would,  from  their  very  nature,  command  the 
deep  consideration  of  most  men.  Perhaps  he  relied 
too  much  on  his  prodigious  facility  of  perception,  and 
on  a  mind  so  gifted,  that  it  could,  in  an  instant,  un- 
ravel the  knots  of  the  most  complicated  affair.  In  the 
king's  council,  his  profound  knowledge  of  men  and  of 
the  court,  a  sort  of  hereditary  ministerial  training  to 
business,  imperfect  as  it  was,  enabled  him  to  conceal 
to  a  certain  degree  his  lamentable  deficiency  of  study 
and  of  meditation.  As  it  were  by  instinct,  if  not  by 
the  diviner's  rod,  he  could  stamp  on  the  ground  and 
point  out  where  the  fruits  of  the  earth  lay  concealed  ; 


MAUREPAS.  71 

but  instead  of  using  the  spade  and  mattock  in  search 
of  the  treasure,  he  would  run  after  the  first  butterfly 
that  caught  his  eye.  To  reconcile  men  to  his  imper- 
fections, nature  had  given  him  a  bewitching  sweetness 
of  temper,  which  was  never  found  wanting.  Urbane, 
supple,  and  insinuating  in  his  manners,  he  was  as  pliant 
as  a  reed  :  fertile  in  courtly  stratagems,  expert  in  lay- 
ing out  traps,  pitfalls,  and  ambuscades  for  his  enemies, 
he  was  equally  skilful  in  the  art  of  attack  and  defence, 
and  no  Proteus  could  assume  more  varied  shapes  to 
elude  the  grasp  of  his  adversaries.  There  was  no 
wall  to  which  he  could  be  driven,  where  he  could  not 
find  an  aperture  through  which  to  make  his  escape. 
No  hunted  deer  ever  surpassed  him  in  throwing  out 
the  intricate  windings  of  his  flight,  to  mislead  his 
sagacious  pursuers.  Where  he  unexpectedly  found 
himself  stared  in  the  face  by  some  aflair,  the  serious 
complexion  of  which  he  did  not  like,  he  would  exor- 
cise the  apparition  away  by  a  profuse  sprinkling  of 
witty  jests,  calculated  to  lessen  the  importance  of  the 
hated  object,  or  to  divert  from  it  the  attention  of  per- 
sons interested  in  its  examination.  No  Ulysses  could 
be  more  replete  than  he  with  exj>edients  to  extricate 
himself  out  of  all  difficulties  ;  but  the  moment  he  was 
out  of  danger,  he  would  throw  himself  down,  panting 
with  his  recent  efforts,  and  think  of  nothing  else  than 
to  luxuriate  on  the  couch  of  repose,  or  to  amuse  him- 
self with  trifles. 


72  MAUREPAS. 

MaUrepas,  in  more  than  one  respect,  was  made  up 
of  contrarieties,  a  living  antithesis  in  flesh  and  blood, 
a  strange  compound  of  activity  and  indolence  that 
puzzled  the  world.  Upon  the  whole,  he  was  generally 
thought  to  be,  by  superficial  observers,  a  harmless, 
good  natured,  easy  sort  of  man.  But  withal,  in  spite 
of  his  habitual  supineness,  he  could  rival  the  lynx, 
when  he  applied  the  keenness  of  his  eye  to  detect  the 
weak,  ridiculous,  or  contemptible  parts  in  the  forma- 
tion of  his  fellow-beings  :  and  no  spider  could  weave 
such  an  imperceptible  but  certain  web  around  those 
court  flies  he  wanted  to  destroy,  or  to  use  to  his  own 
purposes.  He  was  born  a  trifler,  but  one  of  a  redoubt- 
able nature,  and  from  his  temperament  as  well  as  from 
his  vicious  education,  there  was  nothing  so  respected, 
so  august,  or  even  so  awful,  as  not  to  be  laughed  or 
scoffed  at  by  him.  There  was  no  merit,  no  virtue,  no 
generous,  no  moral  or  religious  belief  or  faith  in  any 
thing,  that  he  would  not  deride,  and  he  would  sneer 
even  at  himself,  or  at  his  own  family,  with  the  same 
relish,  when  the  mood  came  upon  him.  Yet,  worthless 
as  that  man  was  in  his  private  and  public  character, 
he  had  such  a  peculiar  turn  for  throwing  the  rich  glow 
of  health  around  what  was  most  rotten  in  the  state ; 
he  could  present  to  his  master  and  to  his  colleagues, 
the  dryest  matter  under  such  an  enlivening  aspect, 
when  they  met  in  the  council-chamber ;  he  could  ren- 


MAUREPAS.  73 

der  apparently  so  simple  what  seemed  so  complicated 
as  to  require  the  most  arduous  labor ;  and  he  could 
solve  the  most  difficult  political  problem  with  such 
ease,  that  it  looked  like  magic,  and  made  him  the  most 
fascinating  of  ministers. 

For  such  a  king  as  Louis  the  XVth,  who  felt  with 
great  sensitiveness  any  thing  that  disturbed  the  volup- 
tuous tranquillity  which  was  the  sole  object  of  his  life, 
Maurepas,  as  a  minister,  had  a  most  precious  quality. 
Born  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  court,  he  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  his  native  element,  and  excelled  in 
hushing  that  low  buzzing  of  discontent,  so  disagreeable 
to  a  monarch,  which  arises  from  the  unsatisfied  ambi- 
tion, the  jealousy,  and  the  quarrels  of  his  immediate 
attendants.  None  knew  better  than  Maurepas  the 
usages  and  secrets  of  the  court,  and  how  to  reconcile 
the  conflicting  interests  of  those  great  families  that 
gravitate  round  the  throne.  lie  knew  exactly  what 
was  due  to  every  one,  either  for  personal  merit  or  for 
ancestral  distinction.  His  was  the  art  to  nip  in  the 
bud  all  factions  or  cabals,  to  stifle  the  grumblings  of 
discontent,  or  to  lull  the  murmurs  of  offended  prido. 
lie  knew  how  to  make  the  grant  of  a  favor  doubly 
precious  by  the  manner  in  which  it  was  offered  ;  and 
the  bitterness  of  refusal  was  either  sweetened  by  assu- 
rances of  regret  and  of  personal  devotion,  or  by  a  happy 
mixture  of  reasoning  and  pleasantry,  which,  if  it  did 


74  MAUREPAS. 

not  convince  the  mind,  forced  disappointment  itself  to 
smile  at  its  own  bad  luck. 

With  all  his  faults,  such  a  minister  had  too  much 
innate  talent  not  to  do  some  good,  in  spite  of  his  frivo- 
lity. Thus,  he  made  great  improvements  and  embel- 
lishments in  the  city  of  Paris  ;  he  infused  new  life  into 
the  marine  department,  corrected  many  abuses,  visited 
all  the  harbors  and  arsenals,  sent  officers  to  survey  all 
the  coasts  of  France,  had  new  maps  made,  established 
nautical  schools,  and  ordered  the  expeditions  of  learned 
men  to  several  parts  of  the  world.  Geometers  and 
astronomers,  according  to  his  instructions,  went  to  the 
equator  and  near  the  boreal  pole,  to  measure,  at  the 
same  time  and  by  a  concurrent  operation,  two  degrees 
of  the  meridian.  Thus,  La  Condamine,  Bouguer,  Go- 
din,  Maupertuis,  Clairant,  and  Lemonnier,  were  indebt- 
ed to  him  for  their  celebrity.  Also,  in  obedience  to 
his  commands,  Sevin  and  Fourmont  visited  Greece  and 
several  provinces  of  the  East ;  others  surveyed  Meso- 
potamia and  Persia,  and  Jussieu  departed  to  study  the 
botany  of  Peru. 

That  frivolous  minister  did,  through  his  strong  natu- 
ral sagacity,  partially  discover  that  commerce  ought  to 
be  unshackled,  and  withdrew  from  the  India  Company 
the  monopoly  of  the  coffee  trade  and  of  the  slave  trade. 
By  such  a  wise  measure,  he  largely  contributed  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  French  colonies.  But,  in  such  an 


MAUKEPAS.  75 

elevated  region  of  thought,  conception,  and  action, 
Maurepas  was  too  boyish  to  remain  long.  He  would 
confide  the  labors  of  his  office  to  those  whom  it  was 
his  duty  to  guide,  and  would  steal  away  to  the  balls  of 
the  opera,  or  to  every  sort  of  dissipation.  If  he  re- 
mained in  the  cabinet  destined  to  his  official  occupa- 
tions, it  was  not  to  think  and  to  act  in  a  manner  wor- 
thy of  the  minister,  but  to  write  lampoons,  scurrilous 
drolleries,  and  facetious  obscenities.  He  took  a  share 
in  the  composition  of  several  licentious  pieces,  well 
suited  to  the  taste  and  morals  of  the  time,  and  contri- 
buted to  one  which  attracted  some  attention,  under  the 
title  of  The  Ballet  of  the  Turkeys.  These  things  were 
not,  for  him,  the  result  of  a  momentary  debauch  of  the 
mind,  but  matters  of  serious  occupation  and  pursuit. 
Such  a  relish  did  he  find  in  this  pastime,  which  would 
be  called  childish  if  it  had  not  been  tainted  with  immo- 
rality, that  it  took  the  mastery  over  his  prudence,  and 
he  had  the  indiscretion  to  write  a  lampoon  on  the 
physical  charms  of  the  Marquise  de  Pompadour,  the 
acknowledged  favorite  of  Louis  the  XVth.  The  pru- 
riency of  his  wit  cost  him  his  place,  and  in  1749,  after 
having  been  a  minister  twenty-four  years,  he  was  ex- 
iled to  the  city  of  Bourges,  and  afterwards  permitted  to 
reside  at  his  Chateau  d<'  Pontcharlrain,  near  Paris. 
There,  his  princely  fortune  allowed  him  to  live  in  splen- 
dor, and  to  attach  a  sort  of  mimic  court  to  his  person. 


76  MAUREPAS. 

He  appeared  to  bear  his  fall  with  philosophical  indiffer- 
ence, observing  that,  on  the  first  day  of  his  dismissal, 
he  felt  sore  ;  but  that  on  the  next,  he  was  entirely  con- 
soled. 

On  the  death  of  Louis  the  XVth,  his  successor  sent 
for  Maurepas,  to  put  him  at  the  helm  of  that  royal  ship, 
destined  soon  to  be  dashed  to  pieces  in  that  tremen- 
dous storm  which  might  be  seen  gathering  from  the 
four  quarters  of  the  horizon.  The  unfortunate  Louis 
could  not  have  made  a  poorer  choice.  Maurepas  had 
sagacity  enough  to  discover  the  coming  events,  but  he 

O  V  O  O 

was  not  the  man,  even  if  the  power  had  been  in  his 
hands,  to  prepare  for  the  struggle  with  those  gigantic 
evils,  whose  shadow  he  could  see  already  darkening 
the  face  of  his  country.  Such  an  attempt  would  have 
interfered  with  his  delightful  suppers  and  disturbed  his 
sleep ;  and  to  the  Cassandras  of  that  epoch,  the  egotis- 
tical old  man  used  to  reply  with  a  sneer  and  a  shrug  of 
his  shoulders,  "  The  present  organization  of  things  will 
last  as  long  as  I  shall,  and  why  should  I  look  beyond  !" 
This  observation  was  in  keeping  with  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  life  ;  and,  true  to  the  system  which  he  had  adopt- 
ed, if  he  lived  and  died  in  peace,  what  did  he  care 
for  the  rest  ?  He  had  no  children,  and  when  he  mar- 
ried in  all  the  vigor  of  youth,  those  who  knew  him 
intimately,  predicted  that  the  bridal  bed  would  remain 
barren.  The  prediction  proved  true,  and  had  not 


MAUREPAS.  77 

required  any  extraordinary  powers  of  divination.  Is 
it  astonishing  that  the  lineal  descendant  of  a  succession 
of  ministers  should  be  without  virility  of  mind,  soul,  or 
body?  What  herculean  strength,  what  angel  purity 
would  have  resisted  the  deleterious  influence  of  such 
an  atmosphere,  working,  for  nearly  two  centuries,  slow 
but  sure  mischief,  from  generation  to  generation  ? 

After  having  been  a  minister  for  six  years  under 
Louis  the  XVIth,  Maurepas  died  in  1781.  So  infatu- 
ated was  the  king  with  his  octogenarian  minister,  that 
he  had  insisted  upon  his  occupying,  at  the  Palace  of 
Versailles,  an  apartment  above  his  own  royal  chamber ; 
and  every  morning,  the  first  thing  that  the  king  did, 
was  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  minister.  Pleasant  those  visits 
were,  because  the  old  wily  minister  presented  every 
thing  to  his  young  master  under  the  most  glowing  colors, 
and  made  him  believe  that  his  almost  centenarian  expe- 
rience would  smooth  the  rugged  path  that  extended 
before  him.  If  parliaments  rebelled,  if  fleets  were  de- 
feated, if  provinces  were  famished,  Maurepas  had  no 
unpalatable  truths  to  say.  Only  once,  the  eaves-drop- 
pers heard  his  voice  raised  above  its  usual  soft  tone. 
What  frightful  convulsion  of  nature  could  have  pro- 
duced such  a  change  ?  None  but  the  death  of  a  cat ! 
Distracted  with  tin;  shrieks  of  his  wife,  whose  trouble- 
some fourfooted  favorite,  interfering  with  the  king 
when  engaged  in  his  darling  occupation  of  a  blacksmith 


78  LAKE    BORGNE. 

had  been  killed  by  an  angry  blow  of  the  royal  hammer, 
he  loudly  expostulated  with  the  murderer  for  the  atro- 
ciousness  of  the  deed.  What  must  have  been  his  dread 
of  his  wife,  when  under  the  cabalistic  influence  of  her 
frowns,  such  a  courtier  could  so  completely  drop  the 
prudential  policy  of  his  whole  life,  as  to  venture  to 
show  displeasure  to  the  king ! 

When  Maurepas  died,  the  king  shed  tears,  and  said 
with  a  faltering  voice,  "  Alas  !  in  the  morning,  for  the 
future,  when  I  shall  wake  up,  no  longer  shall  I  hear  the 
grateful  sound  to  which  I  was  used — the  slow  pacing  of 
my  friend  in  the  room  above  mine."  Very  little  de- 
serving of  this  testimonial  of  friendship  was  he,  who 
never  loved  any  thing  in  this  world  but  himself. 

So  much  for  Pontchartrain  and  Maurepas,  who 
have  given  their  names  to  those  beautiful  lakes  which 
are  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans.  From  Lake  Pont- 
chartrain, Iberville  arrived  at  a  sheet  of  water  which 
is  known  in  our  days  under  the  name  of  Lake  Borgne. 
The  French,  thinking  that  it  did  not  answer  precisely 
the  definition  of  a  lake,  because  it  was  not  altogether 
land-locked,  or  did  not  at  least  discharge  its  waters  only 
through  a  small  aperture,  and  because  it  looked  rather 
like  a  part  of  the  sea,  separated  from  its  main  body 
by  numerous  islands,  called  it  Lake  Borgne,  meaning 
something  incomplete  or  defective,  like  a  man  with 
one  eye. 


ST.  LOUIS.  79 

On  that  lake,  there  is  a  beautiful  bay,  to  which 
Iberville  gave  the  patronymic  name  of  St.  Louis.  Of 
a  more  lofty  one,  no  place  can  boast  under  the  broad 
canopy  of  heaven. 

Louis  the  IXth,  son  of  Louis  the  Vlllth  of  France, 
and  of  Blanche  of  Castille,  was  the  incarnation  of  vir- 
tue, and,  what  is  more  extraordinary,  of  virtue  born  on 
the  throne,  and  preserving  its  divine  purity  in  spite  of 
all  the  temptations  of  royal  power.  In  vain  would 
history  be  taxed  to  produce  a  character  worthy  of 
being  compared  with  one  so  pure.  Among  heroes,  he 
must  certainly  be  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  greatest ; 
among  monarchs,  he  must  be  ranked  as  the  most  just ; 
and  among  men,  as  the  most  modest.  For  such  per- 
fection, he  was  indebted  to  his  mother,  who,  from  his 
earliest  days,  used  to  repeat  to  him  this  solemn  admo- 
nition :  "  My  son,  remember  that  I  had  rather  see  you 
dead  than  offending  your  God  by  the  commission  of  a 
deadly  sin."  When  he  assumed  the  government  of  his 
kingdom,  he  showed  that  his  talents  for  administration 
were  equal  to  his  virtues  as  a  man.  Every  measure 
which  he  adopted  during  peace,  had  a  happy  tendency 
toward  the  moral  and  physical  improvement  of  his  sub- 
jects, and  in  war  he  proved  that  he  was  not  deficient 
in  those  qualifications  which  constitute  military  genius. 
He  defeated  Henry  the  Hid  of  England  at  the  battle 
of  Taillebourg  in  Poitou,  where  he  achieved  prodi- 


80  ST.  LOUIS. 

gies  of  valor.  He  gained  another  decisive  victory  at 
Saintes  over  the  English  monarch,  to  whom  he  granted 
a  truce  of  five  years,  on  his  paying  to  France  five  thou- 
sand pounds  sterling. 

Unfortunately,  the  piety  of  the  king  making  him 
forgetful  of  what  was  due  to  the  temporal  welfare  of 
his  subjects,  drove  him  into  one  of  those  crusades, 
which  the  cold  judgment  of  the  statesman  may  blame, 
but  at  which  the  imagination  of  the  lover  of  romance 
will  certainly  not  repine.  In  1249,  Louis  landed  in 
Egypt,  took  the  city  of  Damietta,  and  advanced  as  far 
as  Massourah.  But  after  several  victories,  whereby 
he  lost  the  greater  part  of  his  army,  he  was  reduced  to 
shut  himself  up  in  his  camp,  where  famine  and  pesti- 
lence so  decimated  the  feeble  remnant  of  his  forces, 
that  he  was  constrained  to  surrender  to  the  host  of 
enemies  by  whom  he  was  enveloped.  He  might  have 
escaped,  however ;  but  to  those  who  advised  him  to 
consult  his  own  personal  safety,  he  gave  this  noble  an- 
swer :  "  I  must  share  in  life  or  in  death  the  fate  of  my 
companions." 

The  Sultan  had  offered  to  his  prisoner  to  set  him 
free,  on  condition  that  he  would  give  up  Damietta  and 
pay  one  hundred  thousand  silver  marks.  Louis  re- 
plied, that  a  king  of  France  never  ransomed  himself 
for  money ;  but  that  he  would  yield  Damietta  in  ex- 
change for  his  own  person,  and  pay  one  hundred  thou- 


.ST.   LOUIS.  81 

sand  silver  marks  in  exchange  for  such  of  his  subjects 
as  were  prisoners.  Such  was  the  course  of  negotiation 
between  the  two  sovereigns,  when  it  was  suddenly 
arrested  by  the  murder  of  the  Sultan,  who  fell  a  victim 
to  the  unruly  passions  of  his  janissaries.  They  had 
rebelled  against  their  master,  for  having  attempted  to 
subject  them  to  a  state  of  discipline,  irksome  to  their 
habits  and  humiliating  to  their  lawless  pride.  Some  of 
those  ruffians  penetrated  into  the  prison  of  Louis,  and 
one  of  them,  presenting  him  with  the  gory  head  of  the 
Sultan,  asked  the  French  monarch  what  reward  he 
would  grant  him  for  the  destruction  of  his  enemy.  A 
haughty  look  of  contempt  was  the  only  answer  vouch- 
safed by  Louis.  Enraged  at  this  manifestation  of  dis- 
pleasure, the  assassin  lifted  up  his  dagger,  and  aiming  it 
at  the  king's  breast,  exclaimed,  "  Dub  me  a  knight,  or 
die  !"  Louis  replied,  with  indignation,  "  Repent,  and 
turn  Christian,  or  fly  hence,  base  infidel !"  When  utter- 
ing these  words,  Louis  had  risen  from  his  seat,  and  with 
an  arm  loaded  with  chains,  had  pointed  to  the  door, 
waving  the  barbarian  away  with  as  much  majesty  of 
command  as  if  he  had  been  seated  on  his  throne  in  his 
royal  palace  of  the  Louvre.  Abashed  at  the  rebuke, 
and  overawed  by  the  Olympian  expression  of  the  mon- 
arch's face,  the  Saracen  skulked  away,  and  said  to  his 
companions,  when  he  returned  to  them,  "  I  have  just 
seen  the  proudest  Christian  that  has  yet  come  to  the 
Knst !"  5 


82  ST.   LOUIS. 

After  many  obstacles,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  at  last 
concluded  :  Louis  and  his  companions  were  liberated  ; 
the  Saracens  received  from  the  French  eight  hundred 
thousand  marks  of  silver,  and  recovered  the  city  of 
Damietta.  But  they  authorized  Louis  to  take  posses- 
sion of  all  the  places  in  Palestine  which  had  been 
wrested  from  the  Christians,  and  to  fortify  them  as  he 
pleased. 

When  the  king  landed  in  France,  the  joy  of  his 
subjects  was  such,  that  they  appeared  to  be  seized  with 
the  wildest  delirium.  On  his  way  from  the  sea-coast 
to  Paris,  he  was  met  by  throngs  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  who  rushed  at  him  with  the  most  frantic 
shrieks,  and  kissed  his  feet  and  the  hem  of  his  garments, 
as  if  he  had  been  an  angel  dropped  from  heaven  to  give 
them  the  assurance  of  eternal  felicity.  Those  testimo- 
nials of  gratitude,  extreme  as  they  may  appear,  were 
not  more  than  he  deserved.  He,  who  used  to  say  to 
his  proud  nobles,  "  Our  serfs  belong  to  Christ,  our  com- 
mon master,  and  in  a  Christian  kingdom  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  we  are  all  brothers,"  must  indeed 
have  been  beloved  by  the  people !  How  could  it  be 
otherwise,  when  they  saw  him  repeatedly  visiting  every 
part  of  his  dominions,  to  listen  to  the  complaints  of  his 
meanest  subjects  !  They  knew  that  he  used  to  sit,  at 
Vincennes,  under  a  favorite  oak,  which  has  become 
celebrated  from  that  circumstance,  and  there  loved, 


ST.    LOUIS.  83 

with  august  simplicity,  to  administer  justice  to  high  and 
low.  It  was  there  that  he  rendered  judgment  against 
his  own  brother,  Le  Comte  d'Anjou  ;  it  was  there  that 
he  forced  one  of  his  most  powerful  barons,  Euguerrand 
de  Coucy,  to  bow  to  the  majesty  of  the  law.  It  was 
he  whose  enlightened  piety  knew  how  to  check  the 
unjust  pretensions  of  his  clergy,  and  to  keep  them 
within  those  bounds  which  they  were  so  prone  to  over- 
leap. It  was  he  who  contented  himself  with  retorting 
to  those  who  railed  at  his  pious  and  laborious  life,  "  If  I 
gave  to  hunting,  to  gambling,  to  tournaments,  and  to 
every  sort  of  dissipation,  the  moments  which  1  devote 
to  prayer  and  meditation,  I  should  not  be  found  fault 
with." 

Louis  undertook  a  second  Crusade  ;  and  having 
encamped  on  the  site  of  old  Carthage,  prepared  to 
commence  the  siege  of  Tunis,  to  which  it  is  almost 
contiguous.  There,  privations  of  every  sort,  incessant 
fatigue,  and  the  malignant  influence  of  the  climate, 
produced  an  epidemical  disease,  which  rapidly  de- 
stroyed the  strength  of  his  army.  His  most  powerful 
barons  and  most  skilful  captains  died  in  a  few  days  ; 
his  favorite  son,  the  Count  de  Nevers,  expired  in  his 
arms  ;  his  eldest  born,  the  presumptive  heir  to  the 
crown,  had  been  attacked  by  the  pestilence,  and  was 
struggling  against  death,  in  a  stale  of  doubtful  con- 
valescence ;  when,  to  increase  the  dismay  of  the 


84  ST.  LOUIS. 

French,  Louis  himself  caught  the  infection.  Aware 
of  approaching  death,  he  ordered  himself  to  be 
stretched  on  ashes ;  wishing,  he,  the  great  king,  to  die 
with  all  the  humility  of  a  Christian.  At  the  foot  of 
his  bed  of  ashes,  stood  a  large  cross,  bearing  the  image 
of  the  crucified  Saviour,  upon  which  he  loved  to 
rest  his  eyes,  as  on  the  pledge  of  his  future  salvation. 
Around  him,  the  magnates  of  France  and  his  own  im- 
mediate attendants  knelt  on  the  ground,  which  they 
bathed  with  tears,  and  addressed  to  Heaven  the  most 
fervent  prayers  for  the  recovery  of  the  precious  life, 
which  was  threatened  with  sudden  extinguishment. 

Out  of  the  royal  tent,  grief  was  not  less  expressive. 
The  silence  of  despair,  made  more  solemn  by  occa- 
sional groans,  reigned  absolute  over  the  suffering  mul- 
titude, that  had  agglomerated  on  the  accursed  Nu- 
midian  shore  ;  and  the  whole  army,  distracted,  as  it 
were,  at  the  danger  which  menaced  its  august  head, 
seemed  to  have  been  struck  with  palsy  by  the  horror 
of  its  situation.  The  dying  were  hardly  attended  to, 
so  much  engrossed  were  their  attendants  by  heavier 
cares ;  and  even  they,  the  dying,  were  satisfied  to 
perish,  since  they  thus  escaped  the  bitterness  of  their 
present  fate ;  and  their  loss  elicited  no  expression  of 
regret  from  their  survivors,  so  much  absorbed  were 
they  by  the  fear  of  a  greater  misfortune  to  them  and 
to  France.  There  appeared  to  be  a  sort  of  frightful 


ST.  LOUIS.  85 

harmony  between  the  surrounding  objects  and  the 
human  sufferings  to  which  they  formed  an  appropriate 
frame.  The  winds  seemed  to  have  departed  for  ever 
from  the  earth  ;  the  atmosphere  had  no  breath ;  and 
the  air  almost  condensed  itself  into  something  pal- 
pable ;  it  fell  like  molten  lead  upon  the  lungs  which  it 
consumed.  The  motionless  sea  was  smoothed  and 
glassed  into  a  mirror  reflecting  the  heat  of  the  lurid 
sun  :  it  looked  dead.  Beasts  of  prey,  hyenas,  jackals, 
and  wolves,  attracted  by  the  noxious  effluvia  which 
issued  from  the  camp,  filled  the  ears  with  their  dismal 
bowlings.  From  the  deep  blue  sky,  there  came  no 
refreshing  shower,  but  shrieks  of  hungry  vultures, 
glancing  down  at  the  feast  prepared  for  them,  and 
screaming  with  impatience  at  the  delay.  The  enemy 
himself  had  retreated  to  a  distance,  from  fear  of  the 
contagion,  and  had  ceased  those  hostilities  which  used 
momentarily  to  relieve  the  minds  of  the  French  from 
the  contemplation  of  their  situation.  They  were  re- 
duced to  such  a  pitch  of  misery  as  to  regret  that  no 
human  foes  disturbed  the  solitude  where  they  were 
slowly  perishing;  and  their  eyes  were  fixed  in  unut- 
terable woe  on  those  broken  pyramids,  those  mutilated 
columns,  those  remnants  of  former  ages,  of  faded 
glories,  on  those  eloquent  ruins,  which,  long  before  the 
time  when  they  sheltered  Mnrius,  spoke  of  nothing  but 
past,  present,  and  future  miseries. 


86  ST.  LOUIS. 

Such  was  the  scene  which  awaited  Louis  on  his 
death-bed.  It  was  enough  to  strike  despair  into  the 
boldest  heart,  but  he  stood  it  unmoved.  A  perpetual 
smile,  such  as  grace  only  the  lips  of  the  blessed,  en- 
livened his  face ;  he  looked  round  not  only  without 
dismay,  but  with  an  evangelical  serenity  of  soul.  He 
knew  well  that  the  apparent  evils  which  he  saw,  were 
a  mere  passing  trial,  inflicted  for  the  benefit  of  the  suf- 
ferers, and  for  some  goodly  purpose ;  he  knew  that 
this  transitory  severity  was  the  wise  device  of  infi- 
nite and  eternal  benignity,  and  therefore,  instead  of 
repining,  he  thanked  God  for  the  chastisement  which 
served  only  to  hasten  the  coming  reward.  The  vision 
of  the  Christian  extends  beyond  the  contracted  sphere 
of  the  sufferings  of  humanity,  and  sees  the  crowning 
mercies  that  attend  the  disembodied  spirits  in  a  better 
world. 

By  the  manner  in  which  Louis  died,  this  was  strik- 
ingly illustrated.  Calm  and  collected,  after  having  dis- 
tributed words  of  encouragement  to  all  that  could  ap- 
proach him,  he  summoned  his  son  and  successor  to  his 
bedside,  and  laying  his  hands  on  his  head  to  bless  him, 
he  bid  him  a  short  and  an  impressive  farewell.  "  My 
son !"  said  he,  "  I  die  in  peace  with  the  world  and  with 
myself,  warring  only  against  the  enemies  of  our  holy 
faith.  As  a  Christian,  I  have  lived  in  the  fear,  and  I 
depart  in  the  hope  of  God.  As  a  man,  I  have  never 


ST.  LOUIS.  87 

wasted  a  thought  on  my  own  perishable  body ;  and  in 
obedience  to  the  command  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christus, 
I  have  always  forgotten  my  own  worldly  interest  to 
promote  that  of  others.  As  a  king,  I  have  considered 
myself  as  my  subjects'  servant,  and  not  my  subjects 
as  mine.  .If,  as  a  Christian,  as  a  man,  and  as  a  king, 
I  have  erred  and  sinned,  it  is  unwillingly  and  in  good 
faith,  and  therefore,  I  trust  for  mercy  in  my  heavenly 
Father,  and  in  the  protection  of  the  Holy  Virgin.  So 
I  have  lived — do  thou  likewise.  Follow  an  example 
which  secures  to  me  such  a  sweet  death  amid  such 
scenes  of  horror.  Thou  shalt  find  in  my  written  will 
such  precepts  as  my  experience  and  my  affection  for 
thee  and  for  my  subjects  have  devised  for  thy  guidance 
and  for  their  benefit.  And  now,  my  son,  farewell  ! 
This  life,  as  thou  knowest,  is  a  mere  state  of  proba- 
tion ;  hence,  do  not  repine  at  our  short  separation. 
Blessed  be  thou  here,  and  in  heaven,  where  I  hope  to 
meet  thee  in  everlasting  bliss.  So  help  me  God !  In 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Amen !"  Thus  saying,  he  devoutly 
crossed  himself,  looked  upwards,  and  exclaimed  :  "  In- 
troibo  in  domum  tuam,  adorabo  ad  templum  sanctum 
tuum."  These  were  his  last  words.  During  his  life, 
he  was  emphatically  the  Christian  king:  shortly  after 
his  death,  he  was  canonized  by  the  church,  and  be- 
came a  saint. 


88  ST.  LOUIS. 

In  spite  of  these  circumstances,  which  must  have 
been  hateful  to  Voltaire's  turn  of  mind,  the  recollection 
of  such  exalted  virtue  extorted  from  that  celebrated  wri- 
ter an  eulogy  which  is  doubly  flattering  to  the  memory 
of  him  to  whom  the  tribute  is  paid,  if  the  source  from 
which  it  came  be  considered.  That  arch  scoffer,  that 
systematic  disbeliever  in  so  much  of  what  is  held  sacred 
by  mankind,  said  of  St.  Louis,  "  That  prince  would 
have  reformed  Europe,  if  reformation  had  been  possible 
at  that  time.  He  increased  the  power,  prosperity,  and 
civilization  of  France,  and  showed  himself  a  type  of 
human  perfection.  To  the  piety  of  an  anchorite,  he 
joined  all  the  virtues  of  a  king ;  and  he  practised  a 
wise  system  of  economy,  without  ceasing  to  be  liberal. 
Although  a  profound  politician,  he  never  deviated  from 
what  he  thought  strictly  due  to  right  and  justice,  and 
he  is  perhaps  the  sole  sovereign  to  whom  such  com- 
mendation can  be  applied.  Prudent  and  firm  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  cabinet,  distinguished  for  cool  intre- 
pidity in  battle,  as  humane  as  if  he  had  been  familiar 
with  nothing  else  but  misery,  he  carried  human  virtue 
as  far  as  it  can  be  expected  to  extend." 

Thus,  it  is  seen  that  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis  could  not 
borrow  a  nobler  name  than  that  under  which  it  is  de- 
signated. The  magnificent  oaks  which  decorate  its 
shore,  did  perhaps  remind  Iberville  of  the  oak  of  Vin- 
cennes,  and  to  that  circumstance  may  the  bay  be 
indebted  for  its  appellation. 


BAY    OF    BILOXI.  81) 

From  the  Bay  of  St.  Louis,  Iberville  returned  to 
his  fleet,  where,  after  consultation,  he  determined  to 
make  a  settlement  at  the  Bay  of  Biloxi.  On  the  east 
side,  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  as  it  were,  there  is  a 
gentle  swelling  of  the  shore,  about  four  acres  square, 
sloping  gently  to  the  woods  in  the  background,  and  on 
the  right  and  left  of  which,  two  deep  ravines  run  into 
the  bay.  Thus,  this  position  was  fortified  by  nature, 
and  the  French  skilfully  availed  themselves  of  these 
advantages.  The  weakest  point,  which  was  on  the 
side  of  the  forest,  they  strengthened  with  more  care 
than  the  rest,  by  connecting  with  a  strong  intrench- 
ment  the  two  ravines,  which  ran  to  the  bay  in  a  paral- 
lel line  to  each  other.  The  fort  was  constructed  with 
four  bastions,  and  was  armed  with  twelve  pieces  of 
artillery.  When  standing  on  one  of  the  bastions  which 
faced  the  bay,  the  spectator  enjoyed  a  beautiful  pros- 
pect. On  the  right,  the  bay  could  be  seen  running  into 
the  land  for  miles,  and  on  the  left  stood  Deer  Island, 
concealing  almost  entirely  the  broad  expanse  of  water 
which  lay  beyond.  It  was  visible  only  at  the  two  ex- 
treme points  of  the  island,  which  both,  at  that  distance, 
appeared  to  be  within  a  close  proximity  of  the  main 
land.  No  better  description  can  be  given,  than  to  say 
that  the  bay  looked  like  a  funnel,  to  which  the  island 
was  the  lid,  not  fitting  closely,  however,  but  leaving 
apertures  for  egress  and  ingress.  The  snugness  of  the 


i)0  1BEUVILLEH    DEPARTURE    Full    FRANCE. 

locality  had  tempted  the  French,  and  had  induced  them 
to  choose  it  as  the  most  favorable  spot,  at  the  time,  for 
colonization.  Sauvolle,  a  brother  of  Iberville,  was  put 
in  command  of  the  fort,  and  Bienville,  the  youngest  of 
the  three  brothers,  was  appointed  his  lieutenant. 

A  few  huts  having  been  erected  round  the  fort,  the 
settlers  began  to  clear  the  land,  in  order  to  bring  it  into 
cultivation.  Iberville,  having  furnished  them  with  all 
the  necessary  provisions,  utensils,  and  other  supplies, 
prepared  to  sail  for  France.  How  deeply  affecting 
must  have  been  the  parting  scene !  How  many  casual- 
ties might  prevent  those  who  remained  in  this  unknown 
region  from  ever  seeing  again  those  who,  through  the 
perils  of  such  a  long  voyage,  had  to  return  to  their 
home!  What  ciwvding  emotions  must  have  filled  up 
the  breast  of  Sauvolle,  Bienville,  and  their  handful  of 
companions,  when  they  beheld  the  sails  of  Iberville's 
fleet  fading  in  the  distance,  like  transient  clouds !  Well 
may  it  be  supposed  that  it  seemed  to  them  as  if  their 
very  souls  had  been  carried  away,  and  that  they  felt  a 
momentary  sinking  of  the  heart,  when  they  found  them- 
selves abandoned,  and  necessarily  left  to  their  own 
resources,  scanty  as  they  were,  on  a  patch  of  land,  be- 
tween the  ocean  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other,  a  wil- 
derness which  fancy  peopled  with  every  sort  of  terrors. 
The  sense  of  their  loneliness  fell  upon  them  like  the 
gloom  of  night,  darkening  their  hopes,  and  filling  their 
hearts  with  dismal  apprehensions. 


T11K    COLAl'ISSAS.  91 

But  as  the  country  had  been  ordered  to  be  explor- 
ed, Sauvolle  availed  himself  of  that  circumstance 
to  refresh  the  minds  of  his  men  by  the  excitement  of 
an  expedition  into  the  interior  of  the  continent.  He 
therefore  hastened  to  dispatch  most  of  them  with  Bien- 
ville,  who,  with  a  chief  of  the  Bayagoulas  for  his  guide, 
went  to  visit  the  Colapissas.  They  inhabited  the  north- 
ern shore  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  their  domains 
embraced  the  sites  now  occupied  by  Lewisburg,  Man- 
deville,  and  Fontainbleau.  That  tribe  numbered  three 
hundred  warriors,  who,  in  their  distant  hunting  excur- 
sions, had  been  engaged  in  frequent  skirmishes  with 
sorrfe  of  the  British  colonists  in  South  Carolina.  When 
the  French  landed,  they  were  informed  that,  two  days 
previous,  the  village  of  the  Colapissas  had  been  attacked 
by  a  party  of  two  hundred  Chickasaws,  headed  by  two 
Englishmen.  These  were  the  first  tidings  which  the 
French  had  of  their  old  rivals,  and  which  proved  to  be 
the  harbinger  of  the  incessant  struggle,  which  was  to 
continue  for  more  than  a  century  between  the  two 
races,  and  to  terminate  by  the  permanent  occupation 
of  Louisiana  by  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

Bienville  returned  to  the  fort  to  convey  this  impor- 
tant information  to  Sauvolle.  After  having  rested 

O 

there  for  several  days,  he  went  to  the  Bay  of  Pasca- 
iroulas,  and  ascended  the  river  which  bears  that  IKUUC, 
and  the  batiks  of  which  were  tenanted  by  a  branch  of 


THE    COLAPJSSAS. 


the  Bilexi,  and  by  the  Moelobites.  Encouraged  by  the 
friendly  reception  which  he  met  every  where,  he  ven- 
tured farther,  and  paid  a  visit  to  the  Mobiliens,  who 
entertained  him  with  great  hospitality.  Bienville  found 
them  much  reduced  from  what  they  had  been,  and  lis- 
tened with  eagerness  to  the  many  tales  of  their  former 
power,  which  had  been  rapidly  declining  since  the 
crushing  blow  they  had  received  from  Soto. 

When  Iberville  had  ascended  the  Mississippi  for  the 
first  time,  he  had  remarked  Bayou  Plaquemines  and 
Bayou  Chetimachas.  The  one  he  called  after  the  fruit 
of  certain  trees,  which  appeared  to  have  exclusive  pos- 
session of  its  banks,  and  the  other  after  the  name  of  the 
Indians  who  dwelt  in  the  vicinity.  He  had  ordered 
them  to  be  explored,  and  the  indefatigable  Bienville, 
on  his  return  from  Mobile,  obeyed  the  instructions  left 
to  his  brother,  and  made  an  accurate  survey  of  these 
two  Bayous.  When  he  was  coming  down  the  river, 
at  the  distance  of  about  eighteen  miles  below  the 
site  where  New  Orleans  now  stands,  he  met  an  English 
vessel  of  16  guns,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Bar. 
The  English  captain  informed  the  French  that  he  was 
examining  the  banks  of  the  river,  with  the  intention  of 
selecting  a  spot  for  the  foundation  of  a  colony.  Bien- 
ville told  him  that  Louisiana  was  a  dependency  of 
Canada  ;  that  the  French  had  already  made  several 
establishments  on  the  Mississippi  ;  and  he  appealed,  in 


THE    ENGLISH    TURN MISSIONARIES.  93 

confirmation  of  his  assertions,  to  their  own  presence  in 
the  river,  in  such  small  boats,  which  evidently  proved 
the  existence  of  some  settlement  close  at  hand.  The 
Englishman  believed  Bienville,  and  sailed  back.  Where 
that  occurrence  took  place  the  river  makes  a  consider- 
able bend,  and  it  was  from  the  circumstance  which  I 
have  related  that  the  spot  received  the  appellation  of 
the  English  Turn — a  name  which  it  has  retained  to  the 
present  day.  It  was  not  far  from  that  place,  the  atmos- 
phere of  which  appears  to  be  fraught  with  some  malig- 
nant spell  hostile  to  the  sons  of  Albion,  that  the  English, 
who  were  outwitted  by  Bienville  in  1699,  met  with  a 
signal  defeat  in  battle  from  the  Americans  in  1815. 
The  diplomacy  of  Bienville  and  the  military  genius  of 
Jackson  proved  to  them  equally  fatal,  when  they  aimed 
at  the  possession  of  Louisiana. 

Since  the  exploring  expedition  of  La  Salle  down 
the  Mississippi,  Canadian  hunters,  whose  habits  and 
intrepidity  Fenimore  Cooper  has  so  graphically  de- 
scribed in  the  character  of  Leather-Stocking,  used  to 
extend  their  roving  excursions  to  the  banks  of  that 
river  ;  and  those  holy  missionaries  of  the  church,  who, 
as  the  pioneers  of  religion,  have  filled  the  New  World 
with  their  sufferings,  and  whose  incredible  deeds  in  the 
service  of  God  afford  so  many  materials  for  the  most 
interesting  of  books,  had  come  in  advance  of  the  pick- 
axe of  the  settler,  and  had  domiciliated  themselves 


94  FATHER    MONTIGNY. 

among  the  tribes  who  lived  near  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi.  One  of  them,  Father  Montigny,  was  re- 
siding with  the  Tensas,  within  the  territory  of  the  pre- 
sent parish  of  Tensas,  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and 
another,  Father  Davion,  was  the  pastor  of  the  Yazoos, 
in  the  present  State  of  Mississippi. 

Father  Montigny  was  a  descendant  from  Galon  de 
Montigny,  who  had  the  honor  of  bearing  the  banner  of 
France  at  the  battle  of  Bouvines.  It  is  well  known 
that  in  1214  a  league  of  most  of  the  European  princes, 
the  most  powerful  of  whom  were  the  King  of  England 
and  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  was  formed  against 
Philip  Augustus.  The  allied  army,  composed  of  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  and  the  French  army  muster- 
ing half  that  number,  met  at  Bouvines,  between  Lille 
and  Tournay.  Before  the  battle,  Philip  reviewed  his 
troops,  and  in  their  presence,  removing  his  crown  from 
his  temples,  said  to  the  assembled  host,  "  Peers,  barons, 
knights,  soldiers,  and  all  ye  that  listen  to  me,  if  you 
know  one  more  worthy  of  the  crown  of  France  than  I 
am,  you  may  award  it  to  him."  Shouts  of  enthusiasm 
declared  that  he  was  the  worthiest.  "Well,  then," 
said  he,  "  help  me  to  keep  it."  The  battle  soon  began, 
and  raged  for  some  time  with  alternate  success  for  the 
belligerents.  To  the  long  gilded  pole  which  supported 
the  banner  of  France,  and  towered  in  proud  majesty 
over  the  plain,  the  eyes  of  the  French  knights,  scattered 


FATHER    MONT1GNY.  95 

over  the  wide  field  of  battle,  were  frequently  turned 
with  feverish  anxiety,  So  long  as  it  stood  erect,  and 
as  firmly  fixed  in  Montigny's  iron  grasp  as  if  it  had 
taken  root  in  the  soil,  they  knew  that  the  king  was 
safe,  it  being  the  duty  of  the  bearer  of  that  standard  to 
keep  close  to  the  royal  person,  and  never  to  lose  sight 
of  him.  It  was  an  arduous  and  a  perilous  duty,  which 
devolved  on  none  but  one  well  tried  among  the  bravest ; 
and  it  was  not  long  before  Montigny  had  to  plunge  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fight,  to  retain  his  post  near  Philip 
Augustus,  who  felt  on  that  trying  occasion,  when  his 
crown  was  at  stake,  that  the  king  was  bound  to  prove 
himself  the  best  knight  of  his  army. 

On  a  sudden,  a  cold  chill  ran  through  the  boldest 
heart  in  the  French  ranks.  The  long  stately  pole 
which  bore  the  royal  banner,  was  observed  to  wave 
distressfully,  and  to  rock  like  the  mast  of  a  vessel 
tossed  on  a  tempestuous  sea.  That  fatal  signal  was 
well  known — it  meant  that  the  king  was  in  peril. 
Simultaneously,  from  every  part  of  the  field,  every 
French  knight,  turning  from  the  foe  he  had  in  front, 
dashed  headlong  away,  and  with  resistless  fury  forced 
a  passage  to  the  spot,  where  the  fate  of  France  was 
held  in  dubious  suspense.  One  minute  more  of  delay, 
and  all  would  have  been  lost.  The  king  had  been  un- 
horsed by  the  lance  of  a  German  knight,  trampled 
under  the  feet  of  the  chargers  of  the  combatants,  and 


DC  FATHER    MONTIGNY. 

had,  with  difficulty,  been  replaced  on  horseback. 
Those  that  came  at  last  to  the  rescue,  found  him  sur- 
rounded by  the  corpses  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
gentlemen  of  the  best  blood  of  France,  who  had  died 
in  his  defence.  His  armor  was  shattered  to  pieces, 
his  battle-axe,  from  the  blows  which  it  had  given,  was 
blunted  into  a  mere  club,  and  his  arm  waxing  faint, 
could  hardly  parry  the  blows  which  rained  upon  his 
head.  Montigny  stood  alone  by  him,  and  was  defend- 
ing, with  a  valor  worthy  of  the  occasion,  the  flag  and 
the  king  of  France.  That  occasion,  indeed,  was  one, 
if  any,  to  nerve  the  arm  of  a  man,  and  to  madden 
such  a  one  as  Montigny  into  the  execution  of  pro- 
digies. 

To  be  the  royal  standard-bearer,  to  fight  side  by 
side  with  his  king,  to  have  saved  him  perhaps  from 
captivity  or  death ;  such  were  the  proud  destinies  of 
the  noble  knight,  Galon  de  Montigny.  His  descend- 
ant's lot  in  life  was  an  humbler  one  in  the  estimation 
of  the  world,  but  perhaps  a  higher  one  in  that  of 
heaven.  A  hood,  not  a  crested  helmet,  covered  his 
head,  and  he  was  satisfied  with  being  a  soldier  in  the 
militia  of  Christ.  But  if,  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
duties  of  his  holy  faith,  he  courted  dangers  and  even  cov- 
eted tortures  with  heroic  fortitude — if,  in  the  cause  of 
God,  he  used  his  spiritual  weapons  against  vice,  error  and 
superstition,  with  as  much  zeal  and  bravery  as  others 


FATHER    DAVION.  97 

use  carnal  weapons  in  earthly  causes — if,  instead  of  a 
king's  life,  he  saved  thousands  of  souls  from  perdition 
— is  he  to  be  deemed  recreant  to  his  gentle  blood,  and 
is  he  not  to  be  esteemed  as  good  a  knight  as  his  great 
ancestor  of  historical  renown  ? 

Father  Davion  had  resided  for  some  time  with  the 
Tunicas,  where  he  had  made  himself  so  popular,  that, 
on  the  death  of  their  chief,  they  had  elected  him  to  fill 
his  place.  The  priest  humbly  declined  the  honor, 
giving  for  his  reasons,  that  his  new  duties  as  their 
chief  would  be  incompatible  with  those  of  his  sacred 
ministry.  Yet  the  Tunicas,  who  loved  and  venerated 
him  as  a  man,  were  loth  to  abandon  their  old  creed  to 
adopt  the  Christian  faith,  and  they  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  his  admonitions.  One  day  the  missionary,  incensed 
at  their  obstinate  perseverance  in  idolatry,  and  wishing 
to  demonstrate  that  their  idols  were  too  powerless  to 
punish  any  offence  aimed  at  them,  burned  their  temple, 
and  broke  to  pieces  the  rudely  carved  figures  which 
were  the  objects  of  the  peculiar  adoration  of  that 
tribe.  The  Indians  were  so  much  attached  to  Father 
Davion,  that  they  contented  themselves  with  expelling 
him,  and  he  retired  on  the  territory  of  the  Yazoos, 
who  proved  themselves  readier  proselytes,  and  be- 
came converts  in  a  short  time.  This  means,  tlint 
they  adopted  some  of  the  outward  signs  of  Chris- 
tianity, without  understanding  or  appreciating  its 
dogmas. 


98  FATHER    DAVION. 

Proud  of  his  achievements,  Father  Davion  had, 
with  such  aid  as  he  could  command,  constructed  and 
hung  up  a  pulpit  to  the  trunk  of  an  immense  oak,  in 
the  same  manner  that  it  is  stuck  to  a  pillar  in  the 
Catholic  churches.  Back  of  that  tree,  growing  on  the 
slight  hill  which  commanded  the  river,  he  had  raised 
a  little  Gothic  chapel,  the  front  part  of  which  was  di- 
vided by  the  robust  trunk  to  which  it  was  made  to 
adhere,  with  two  diminutive  doors  opening  into  the 
edifice,  on  either  side  of  that  vegetal  tower.  It  was 
done  in  imitation  of  those  stone  towers,  which  stand 
like  sentinels  wedged  to  the  frontispiece  of  the  temples 
of  God,  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  In  that  chapel, 
Father  Davion  kept  all  the  sacred  vases,  the  holy 
water,  and  the  sacerdotal  habiliments.  There  he  used 
to  retire  to  spend  hours  in  meditation  and  in  prayer. 
In  that  tabernacle  was  a  small  portable  altar,  which, 
whenever  he  said  mass  for  the  natives,  was  transported 
outside,  under  the  oak,  where  they  often  met  to  the 
number  of  three  to  four  hundred.  What  a  beautiful 
subject  for  painting !  The  majesty  of  the  river — the 
glowing  richness  of  the  land  in  its  virgin  loveliness — 

the  Gothic   chapel — the  pulpit  which  looked  as  if  it 

• 

had  grown  out  of  the  holy  oak — the  hoary-headed 
priest,  speaking  with  a  sincerity  of  conviction,  an  im- 
pressiveness  of  manner  and  a  radiance  of  countenance 
worthy  of  an  apostle — the  motley  crowd  of  the  In- 


FATHER    DAVION.  99 

dians,  listening  attentively,  some  with  awe,  others  with 
meek  submission,  a  few  with  a  sneering  incredulity, 
which,  as  the  evangelical  man  went  on,  seemed  gradu- 
ally to  vanish  from  their  strongly  marked  features — in 
the  background,  a  group  of  their  juggling  prophets,  or 
conjurers,  scowling  with  fierceness  at  the  minister  of 
truth,  who  was  destroying  their  power; — would  not  all 
these  elements,  where  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery 
would  be  combined  with  the  acting  of  man  and  the 
development  of  his  feelings,  on  an  occasion  of  the 
most  solemn  nature,  produce  in  the  hands  of  a  Salvator 
Rosa,  or  of  a  Poussin,  the  most  striking  effects  ? 

Father  Davion  had  acquired  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  dialect  of  his  neophytes,  and  spoke  it  with  as  much 
fluency  as  his  own  maternal  tongue.  He  had  both  the 
physical  and  mental  qualifications  of  an  orator :  he  was 
tall  and  commanding  in  stature  ;  his  high  receding  fore- 
head was  well  set  off  by  his  long,  flowing,  gray  hairs, 
curling  down  to  his  shoulders ;  his  face  was  "  sicklied 
over  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought ;"  vigils  and  fasting 
had  so  emaciated  his  form  that  he  seemed  almost  to  be 
dissolved  into  spirituality.  There  was  in  his  eyes  a 
soft,  blue,  limpid  transparency  of  look,  which  seemed  to 
be  a  reflection  from  the  celestial  vault ;  yet  that  eye, 
so  calm,  so  benignant,  could  be  lighted  up  with  all  the 
coruscations  of  pious  wrath  and  indignation,  when,  in 
the  pulpit,  he  vituperated  his  congregation  for  some  act 


100  FATHER    DAVION. 

of  cruelty  or  deceit,  and  threatened  them  with  eternal 
punishment.  First,  he  would  remind  them,  with  apos- 
tolic unction,  with  a  voice  as  bland  as  the  evening 
breeze,  of  the  many  benefits  which  the  Great  Spirit  had 
showered  upon  them,  and  of  the  many  more  which  he 
had  in  store  for  the  red  men,  if  they  adhered  strictly 
to  his  law.  When  he  thus  spoke,  the  sunshine  of  his 
serene,  intellectual  countenance  would  steal  over  his 
hearers,  and  their  faces  would  express  the  wild  delight 
which  they  felt.  But,  anon,  when  the  holy  father  recol- 
lected the  many  and  daily  transgressions  of  his  unruly 
children,  a  dark  hue  would,  by  degrees,  creep  over  the 
radiancy  of  his  face,  as  if  a  storm  was  gathering,  and 
clouds  after  clouds  were  chasing  each  other  over  the 
mirror  of  his  soul.  Out  of  the  inmost  recesses  of  his 
heart,  there  arose  a  whirlwind  which  shook  the  holy 
man,  in  its  struggle  to  rush  out :  then  would  flash  the 
lightning  of  the  eye ;  then  the  voice,  so  soft,  so  insinu- 
ating, and  even  so  caressing,  would  assume  tones  that 
sounded  like  repeated  peals  of  thunder  ;  and  a  perfect 
tempest  of  eloquence  would  he  pour  forth  upon  his  dis- 
mayed auditory,  who  crossed  themselves,  crouched  to 
the  earth  and  howled  pite'ously,  demanding  pardon  for 
their  sins.  Then,  the  ghostly  orator,  relenting  at  the 
sight  of  so  much  contrition,  would  descend  like  Moses 
from  his  Mount  Sinai,  laying  aside  the  angry  elements 
in  which  he  had  robed  himself,  as  if  he  had  come  to 


FATHER    DAVION.  101 

preside  over  the  last  judgment ;  and  with  the  gentle- 
ness of  a  lamb,  he  would  walk  among  his  prostrate 
auditors,  raising  them  from  the  ground,  pressing  them 
to  his  bosom,  and  comforting  them  with  such  sweet 
accents  as  a  mother  uses  to  lull  her  first-born  to  sleep. 
It  was  a  spectacle  touching  in  the  extreme,  and  angeli- 
cally pure ! 

Father  Davion  lived  to  a  very  old  age,  still  com- 
manding the  awe  and  affection  of  his  flock,  by  whom 
he  was  looked  upon  as  a  supernatural  being.  Had  they 
not,  they  said,  frequently  seen  him  at  night,  with  his 
dark,  solemn  gown,  not  walking,  but  gliding  through 
the  woods,  like  something  spiritual  ?  How  could  one, 
so  weak  in  frame,  and  using  so  little  food,  stand  so 
many  fatigues  ?  How  was  it,  that  whenever  one  of 
them  fell  sick,  however  distant  it  might  be,  Father  Da- 
vion knew  it  instantly,  and  was  sure  to  be  there,  before 
sought  for  ?  Who  had  given  him  the  information  ? 
Who  told  him  whenever  they  committed  any  secret 
sin  ?  None  ;  and  yet,  he  knew  it.  Did  any  of  his 
prophecies  ever  prove  false  V  By  what  means  did  he 
arrive  at  so  much  knowledge  about  every  thing?  Did 
they  not,  one  day,  when  he  kneeled,  as  usual,  in  solitary 
prayer,  under  the  holy  oak,  see,  from  the  respectful  dis- 
tance at  which  they  stood,  a  ray  of  the  sun  piercing  the 
thick  foliage  of  the  tree,  cast  its  lambent  flame  around 
his  temples,  and  wreath  itself  into  a  crown  of  glory, 


102  FATHER    DAVION. 

encircling  his  snow-white  hair  ?  What  was  it  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  muttering  so  long,  when  counting  the 
beads  of  that  mysterious  chain  that  hung  round  his 
neck  ?  Was  he  not  then  telling  the  Great  Spirit  every 
wrong  they  had  done  ?  So,  they  both  loved  and  feared 
Father  Davion.  One  day,  they  found  him  dead  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar  :  he  was  leaning  against  it,  with  his 
head  cast  back,  with  his  hands  clasped,  and  still  retain- 
ing his  kneeling  position.  There  was  an  expression  of 
rapture  in  his  face,  as  if,  to  his  sight,  the  gates  of  para- 
dise had  suddenly  unfolded  themselves  to  give  him 
admittance :  it  was  evident  that  his  soul  had  exhaled 
into  a  prayer,  the  last  on  this  earth,  but  terminating, 
no  doubt,  in  a  hymn  of  rejoicing  above. 

Long  after  Davion's  death,  mothers  of  the  Yazoo 
tribe  used  to  carry  their  children  to  the  place  where  he 
loved  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  There, 
those  simple  creatures,  with  many  ceremonies  of  a  wild 
nature,  partaking  of  their  new  Christian  faith  and  of 
their  old  lingering  Indian  superstitions,  invoked  and 
called  down  the  benedictions  of  Father  Davion  upon 
themselves  and  their  families.  For  many  years,  that 
spot  was  designated  under  the  name  of  Davion's  Bluff. 
In  recent  times,  Fort  Adams  was  constructed  where 
Davion's  chapel  formerly  stood,  and  was  the  cause  of 
the  place  being  more  currently  known  under  a  different 
appellation. 


IBERVILLE'S  RETURN.  103 

Such  were  the  two  visitors  who,  in  1699,  appeared 
before  Sauvolle,  at  the  fort  of  Biloxi,  to  relieve  the 
monotony  of  his  cheerless  existence,  and  to  encourage 
him  in  his  colonizing  enterprise.  Their  visit,  however, 
was  not  of  long  duration,  and  they  soon  returned  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  their  sacred  mission. 

Iberville  had  been  gone  for  several  months,  and  the 
year  was  drawing  to  a  close  without  any  tidings  of 
him.  A  deeper  gloom  had  settled  over  the  little  colony 
at  Biloxi,  when,  on  the  7th  of  December,  some  signal 
guns  were  heard  at  sea,  and  the  grateful  sound  came 
booming  over  the  waters,  spreading  joy  in  every  breast. 
There  was  not  one  who  was  not  almost  oppressed  with 
the  intensity  of  his  feelings.  At  last,  friends  were 
coming,  bringing  relief  to  the  body  and  to  the  soul ! 
Every  colonist  hastily  abandoned  his  occupation  of  the 
moment,  and  ran  to  the  shore.  The  soldier  himself,  in 
the  eagerness  of  expectation,  left  his  post  of  duty,  and 
rushed  to  the  parapet  which  overlooked  the  bay.  Pre- 
sently, several  vessels  hove  in  sight,  bearing  the  white 
flag  of  France,  and,  approaching  as  near  as  the  shallow- 
ness  of  the  beach  permitted,  folded  their  pinions,  like 
water-fowls  seeking  repose  on  the  crest  of  the  billows. 

It  was  Iberville,  returning  with  the  news  that,  on 
his  representations,  Sauvolle  had  been  appointed  by  the 
king,  Governor  of  Louisiana ;  Bienville  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  and  Boisbriant  commander  of  the  fort  at 


104  TONTI. 

Biloxi,  with  the  grade  of  Major.  Iberville,  having  been 
informed  by  Bienville  of  the  attempt  of  the  English  to 
make  a  settlement  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
of  the  manner  in  which  it  had  been  foiled,  resolved  to 
take  precautionary  measures  against  the  repetition  of 
any  similar  attempt.  Without  loss  of  time,  he  departed 
with  Bienville,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1700,  and  run- 
ning up  the  river,  he  constructed  a  small  fort,  on  the 
first  solid  ground  which  he  met,  and  which  is  said  to 
have  been  at  a  distance  of  fifty-four  miles  from  its 
mouth. 

When  so  engaged,  the  two  brothers  one  day  saw  a 
canoe  rapidly  sweeping  down  the  river,  and  approach- 
ing the  spot  where  they  stood.  It  was  occupied  by 
eight  men,  six  of  whom  were  rowers,  the  seventh  was 
the  steersman,  and  the  eighth,  from  his  appearance,  was 
evidently  of  a  superior  order  to  that  of  his  companions, 
and  the  commander  of  the  party.  Well  may  it  be  ima- 
gined what  greeting  the  stranger  received,  when,  leap- 
ing on  shore,  he  made  himself  known  as  the  Chevalier 
de  Tonti,  who  had  again  heard  of  the  establishment  of 
a  colony  in  Louisiana,  and  who,  for  the  second  time, 
had  come  to  see  if  there  was  any  truth  in  the  report. 
With  what  emotion  did  Iberville  and  Bienville  fold  in 
their  arms  the  faithful  companion  and  friend  of  La 
Salle,  of  whom  they  had  heard  so  many  wonderful 
tales  from  the  Indians,  to  whom  he  was  so  well  known 


NATCHEZ.  105 

under  the  name  of  "  Iron  Hand !"  With  what  admi- 
ration they  looked  at  his  person,  and  with  what  increas- 
ing interest  they  listened  to  his  long  recitals  of  what  he 
had  done  and  had  seen  on  that  broad  continent,  the 
threshold  of  which  they  had  hardly  passed ! 

After  having  rested  three  days  at  the  fort,  the  inde- 
fatigable Tonti  reascended  the  Mississippi,  with  Iber- 

ville  and  Bienville,  and  finally  parted  with  them  at  / 

— _^_j__^ ^ — ^ 

Natchez.     Iberville  was  so  much  pleased  with  that 
part  of  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  now  exists  the  city 
of  Natchez,  that  he  marked  it  down  as  a  most  eligible 
spot  for  a  town,  of  which  he  drew  the  plan,  and  which 
he  called  Rosalie,  after  the  maiden  name  of  the  Count- 
ess Pontchartrain,  the  wife  of  the  Chancellor.     He  then 
returned  to  the  new  fort  he  was  erecting  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  Bienville  went  to  explore  the  country  of 
the  Yatasses,  of  the  Natchitoches,  and  of  the  Ouachi- 
tas.     What  romance  can  be  more  agreeable  to  the 
imagination  than  to  accompany  Iberville  and  Bienville 
in  their  wild  explorations,  and  to  compare  the  state  of 
the  country  in  their  time  with  what  it  is  in  our  days  ? 
When  the  French  were  at  Natchez,  they  were 
struck  with  horror  at  an  occurrence,  too  clearly  de- 
monstrating the  fierceness  of  disposition  of  that  tribe,  > 
which  was  destined,  in  after  years,  to  become  so  cele-; 
brated  in  the  history  of  Louisiana.     One  of  their  tem- 
ples having  been  set  on  fire  by  lightning,  a  hideous 


100  NATCHEZ. 

spectacle  presented  itself  to  the  Europeans.  The  tu- 
multuous rush  of  the  Indians — the  infernal  howlings 
and  lamentations  of  the  men,  women,  and  children — 
the  unearthly  vociferations  of  the  priests,  their  fantas- 
tic dances  and  ceremonies  around  the  burning  edifice 
— the  demoniac  fury  with  which  mothers  rushed  to 
the  fatal  spot,  and,  with  the  piercing  cries  and  gesticu- 
lations of  maniacs,  flung  their  new-born  babes  into 
the  flames  to  pacify  their  irritated  deity — the  increas- 
ing anger  of  the  heavens  blackening  with  the  impend- 
ing storm,  the  lurid  flashes  of  the  lightnings,  darting 
as  it  were  in  mutual  enmity  from  the  clashing  clouds 
— the  low,  distant  growling  of  the  coming  tempest — 
the  long  column  of  smoke  and  fire  shooting  upwards 
from  the  funeral  pyre,  and  looking  like  one  of  the 
gigantic  torches  of  Pandemonium — the  war  of  the  ele- 
ments combined  with  the  worst  effects  of  the  frenzied 
superstition  of  man — the  suddenness  and  strangeness 
of  the  awful  scene — all  these  circumstances  produced 
such  an  impression  upon  the  French,  as  to  deprive 
them,  for  the  moment,  of  the  powers  of  volition  and 
action.  Rooted  to  the  ground,  they  stood  aghast  with 
astonishment  and  indignation  at  the  appalling  scene. 
Was  it  a  dream  ? — a  wild  delirium  of  the  mind  ?  But 
no — the  monstrous  reality  of  the  vision  was  but  too 
apparent ;  and  they  threw  themselves  among  the  In- 
dians, supplicating  them  to  cease  their  horrible  sacri- 


DISTRESS    OF    THE    COLONISTS.  107 

fice  to  their  gods,  and  joining  threats  to  their  supplica- 
tions. Owing  to  that  intervention,  and  perhaps  be- 
cause a  sufficient  number  of  victims  had  been  offered, 
the  priests  gave  the  signal  of  retreat,  and  the  Indians 
slowly  withdrew  from  the  accursed  spot.  Such  was 
the  aspect  under  which  the  Natchez  showed  them- 
selves, for  the  first  time,  to  their  visitors  :  it  was  an 
ominous  presage  for  the  future. 

After  these  explorations,  Iberville  departed  again  for 
France,  to  solicit  additional  assistance  from  the  govern- 
ment, and  left  Bienville  in  command  of  the  new  fort  on 
the  Mississippi.  It  was  very  hard  for  the  two  brothers, 
Sauvolle  and  Bienville,  to  be  thus  separated,  when  they 
stood  so  much  in  need  of  each  other's  countenance,  to 
breast  the  difficulties  that  sprung  up  around  them  with 
a  luxuriance  which  they  seemed  to  borrow  from  the 
vegetation  of  the  country.  The  distance  between  the 
Mississippi  and  Biloxi  was  not  so  easily  overcome  in 
those  days  as  in  ours,  and  the  means  which  the  two 
brothers  had  of  communing  together  were  very  scanty 
and  uncertain.  Sauvolle  and  his  companions  had  suf- 
fered much  from  the  severity  of  the  winter,  which  had 
been  so  great  that  in  one  of  his  despatches  he  informed 
his  government  that  "water,  when  poured  into  tumblers 
to  rinse  them,  froze  instantaneously,  and  before  it  could 
be  used." 

At  last,  the  spring  made  its  appearance,  or  rather 


DISTRESS    OF    THE    COLONISTS. 

the  season  which  bears  that  denomination,  but  which 
did  not  introduce  itself  with  the  genial  and  mild  atmos- 
phere that  is  its  characteristic  in  other  climes.  The 
month  of  April  was  so  hot  that  the  colonists  could  work 
only  two  hours  in  the  morning  and  two  in  the  evening. 
When  there  was  no  breeze,  the  reflection  of  the  sun 
from  the  sea  and  from  the  sandy  beach  was  intolerable ; 
and  if  they  sought  relief  under  the  pine  trees  of  the 
forest,  instead  of  meeting  cool  shades,  it  seemed  to  them 
that  there  came  from  the  very  lungs  of  the  trees  a  hot 
breath,  which  sent  them  back  hastily  to  the  burning 
shore,  in  quest  of  air.  Many  of  the  colonists,  accus- 
tomed to  the  climate  of  Canada  and  France,  languished, 
pined,  fell  sick,  and  died.  Some,  as  they  lay  panting 
under  the  few  oaks  that  grew  near  the  fort,  dreamed  of 
the  verdant  valleys,  the  refreshing  streams,  the  pictu- 
resque hills,  and  the  snow-capped  mountains  of  their 
native  land.  The  fond  scenes  upon  which  their  ima- 
gination dwelt  with  rapture,  would  occasionally  as- 
sume, to  their  enfeebled  vision,  the  distinctness  of  real 
existence,  and  feverish  recollection  would  produce  on 
the  horizon  of  the  mind,  such  an  apparition  as  tantalizes 
the  dying  traveller  in  the  parched  deserts  of  Arabia. 
When  despair  had  paved  the  way,  it  was  easy  for  dis- 
ease to  follow,  and  to  crush  those  that  were  already 
prostrate  in  mind  and  in  body.  To  increase  the  misery 
of  those  poor  wretches,  famine  herself  raised  her  spec- 


SAUVOLLE,    FIBST    GOVERNOR.  109 

tral  form  among  them,  and  grasped  pestilence  by  the 
hand  to  assist  her  in  the  work  of  desolation.  Thus, 
that  fiendish  sisterhood  reigned  supreme,  where,  in  our 
days,  health,  abundance,  and  wealth,  secured  by  the 
improvements  of  civilization,  bless  the  land  with  per- 
petual smiles. 

Sauvolle,  from  the  feebleness  of  his  constitution,  was 
more  exposed  than  any  of  his  companions  to  be  affected 
by  the  perils  of  the  situation  ;  and  yet  it  was  he  upon 
whom  devolved  the  duty  of  watching  over  the  safety  of 
others.  But  he  was  sadly  incapacitated  from  the  dis- 
charge of  that  duty  by  physical  and  moral  causes. 
When  an  infant,  he  had  inherited  a  large  fortune  from 
an  aunt,  whose  godson  he  was.  With  such  means  at 
his  future  command,  the  boy,  who  gave  early  evidence 
of  a  superior  intellect,  became  the  darling  hope  of  his 
family,  and  was  sent  to  France  to  be  qualified  for  the 
splendid  career  which  parental  fondness  anticipated  for 
him.  The  seeds  of  education  were  not,  in  that  instance, 
thrown  on  a  rebellious  soil ;  and  when  Sauvolle  left  the 
seat  of  learning  where  he  had  been  trained,  he  carried 
away  with  him  the  admiration  of  his  professors  and  of 
his  schoolmates.  In  the  high  circles  of  society  where 
his  birth  and  fortune  entitled  him  to  appear,  he  produced 
no  less  sensation  ;  and  well  he  might,  for  he  appeared, 
to  an  eminent  degree,  capable  of  adorning  any  station 
which  he  might  wish  to  occupy.  Nature  had  been 


110  SAUVOLLE's    BRILLIANT    PROSPECTS. 

pleased  to  produce  another  Crichton,  and  Sauvolle  soon 
became  known  as  the  American  prodigy.  Racine 
called  him  a  poet ;  Bossuet  had  declared  that  there 
were  in  him  all  the  materials  of  a  great  orator ;  and 
the  haughty  Villars,  after  a  conversation  of  several 
hours  with  him,  was  heard  to  say,  "  Here  is  a  Marshal 
of  France  in  embryo." 

The  frivolous  admired  his  wonderful  expertness  in 
fencing,  in  horsemanship,  and  his  other  acquirements 
of  a  similar  nature  ;  artists  might  have  been  proud  of 
his  talent  for  painting  and  for  music  ;  and  those  friends 
that  were  admitted  into  his  intimacy,  were  struck  with 
his  modesty  and  with  the  high-toned  morality  which 
pervaded  the  life  of  one  so  young.  The  softer  sex, 
yielding  to  the  fascination  of  his  manly  graces,  was 
held  captive  by  them,  and  hailed  his  first  steps  on  the 
world's  stage  with  all  the  passionate  enthusiasm  of  the 
female  heart.  But  he  loved  and  was  loved  by  the  fair- 
est daughter  of  one  of  the  noblest  houses  of  France, 
and  his  nuptials  were  soon  to  be  celebrated  with  fitting 
pomp.  Was  not  this  the  acme  of  human  felicity  ?  If 
so,  whence  that  ^paleness  which  sat  on  his  brow,  and 
spoke  of  inward  pain,  moral  or  physical  ?  Whence 
those  sudden  starts  ?  Why  was  he  observed  occasion- 
ally to  grasp  his  heart  with  a  convulsive  hand  ?  What 
appalling  disclosure  could  make  him  desert  her  to  whom 
his  faith  was  plighted,  and  could  so  abruptly  hurry  him 


SAUVOLLE'S  MISFORTUNES.  Ill 

away  from  France  and  from  that  seat  where  so  much 
happiness  was  treasured  up  for  him  ?  That  it  was  no 
voluntary  act  on  his  part,  and  that  he  was  merely  com- 
plying with  the  stern  decree  of  fate,  could  be  plainly 
inferred  from  that  look  of  despair  which,  from  the  ship 
that  bore  him  away,  he  cast  at  the  shores  of  France 
when  receding  from  his  sight.  So  must  Adam  have 
looked,  when  he  saw  the  flaming  sword  of  the  angel  of 
punishment  interposed  between  him  and  Paradise. 

Sauvolle  arrived  in  Canada  at  the  very  moment 
when  Iberville  and  Bienville  were  preparing  their  ex- 
pedition to  Lousiana,  and  he  eagerly  begged  to  join 
them,  saying  that  he  knew  his  days  were  numbered, 
that  he  had  come  back  to  die  in  America,  and  that  since 
his  higher  aspirations  were  all  blasted,  he  could  yet  find 
some  sort  of  melancholy  pleasure  in  closing  his  career 
in  that  new  colony,  of  which  his  brothers  were  to  be 
the  founders,  and  to  which  they  were  to  attach  their 
names  for  ever. 

Poor  Sauvolle  !  the  star  of  his  destiny  which  rose  up 
at  the  court  of  Louis  the  XI  Vth  with  such  gorgeousness, 
was  now  setting  in  gloom  and  desolation  on  the  bleak 
shore  of  Biloxi.  How  acute  must  his  mental  agony 
have  been,  when,  by  day  and  by  night,  the  comparison 
of  what  he  might  have  been  with  what  he  was,  must 
have  incessantly  forced  itself  upon  his  mind  !  Why 
had  Nature  qualified  him  to  be  the  best  of  husbands 


112  SAUVOLLE'S  MISFORTUNES. 

and  fathers,  when  forbidding  him,  at  the  same  time,  to 
assume  the  sacred  character  which  he  coveted,  and  to 
form  those  ties,  without  which,  existence  could  only  be 
a  curse  to  one  so  exquisitely  framed  to  nourish  the 
choicest  affections  of  our  race  ?  Why  give  him  all  the 
elements  of  greatness,  and  preclude  their  development  ? 
Why  inspire  him  with  the  consciousness  of  worth,  and 
deny  him  time  and  life  for  its  manifestation  ?  Why 
had  such  a  mind  and  such  a  soul  been  lodged  in  a  de- 
fective body,  soon  to  be  dissolved  ?  Why  a  blade  of 
such  workmanship  in  such  an  unworthy  scabbard? 
Why  create  a  being  with  feelings  as  intense  as  ever 
animated  one  of  his  species,  merely  to  bruise  them  in 
the  bud  ?  Why  shower  upon  him  gifts  of  such  value, 
when  they  were  to  be  instantly  resumed  ?  Why  light 
up  the  luminary  which  was  to  be  extinguished  before 
its  rays  could  be  diffused  ?  Was  it  not  a  solemn  mock- 
ery ?  What  object  could  it  answer,  except  to  inflict 
extreme  misery  ?  Surely,  it  could  only  be  a  concep- 
tion or  device  of  the  arch-enemy  of  mankind  !  But 
how  could  he  be  allowed  thus  to  trifle  with  God's  crea- 
tures ?  Were  they  his  puppets  and  playthings  ?  or,  was 
it  one  of  God's  inscrutable  designs  ?  Was  it  an  enigma 
only  to  be  solved  hereafter  ? — These  were  the  reflec- 
tions which  were  coursing  each  other  in  Sauvolle's 
mind,  as  he,  with  folded  arms,  one  day  stood  on  the 
parapet  of  the  fort  at  Biloxi,  looking  sorrowfully  at  the 


* 


SAUVOLLE'S  DEATH.  113 

scene  of  desolation  around  him,  at  his  diseased  and 
famished  companions.  Overwhelmed  with  grief,  he 
withdrew  his  gaze  from  the  harrowing  sight,  heaved  a 
deep  sigh  and  uplifted  his  eyes  towards  heaven,  with  a 
look  which  plainly  asked,  if  his  placid  resignation  and 
acquiescent  fortitude  had  not  entitled  him  at  last  to  re- 
pose. That  look  of  anguish  was  answered  :  a  slight 
convulsion  flitted  over  his  face,  his  hand  grasped  the 
left  side  of  his  breast,  his  body  tottered,  and  Sauvolle 
was  dead  before  he  reached  the  ground. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  the  first  governor  of  Louisiana. 
A  hard  fate  indeed  is  that  of  defective  organization ! 
An  anticipated  damnation  it  is,  for  the  unbeliever,  when 
spiritual  perfection  is  palsied  and  rendered  inert  by 
being  clogged  with  physical  imperfection,  or  wedded  to 
diseased  matter !  When  genius  was  flashing  in  the 
head,  when  the  spirit  of  God  lived  in  the  soul,  why  did 
creation  defeat  its  own  apparent  purposes,  in  this  case, 
by  planting  in  the  heart  the  seeds  of  aneurism  ?  It  is 
a  question  which  staggers  philosophy,  confounds  human 
reason,  and  is  solved  only  by  the  revelations  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

What  a  pity  that  Sauvolle  had  not  the  faith  of  a 
Davion,  or  of  a  St.  Louis,  whose  deaths  I  have  re- 
corded in  the  preceding  pages  !  He  would  have 
known  that  the  heavier  the  cross  we  bear  with  Chris- 
tian resignation  in  this  world,  the  greater  the  reward 

(5" 


114  REFLECTIONS. 

is  in  the  better  one  which  awaits  us  :  and  that  our  trials 
in  this,  our  initiatory  state  of  terrestrial  existence,  are 
merely  intended  by  the  infinite  goodness  of  the  Crea- 
tor, as  golden  opportunities  for  us  to  show  our  fidelity, 
and  to  deserve  a  higher  or  lesser  degree  of  happiness, 
when  we  shall  enter  into  the  celestial  kingdom  of 
spiritual  and  eternal  life,  secured  to  us  at  the  price  of 
sufferings  alone  :  and  what  sufferings !  Those  of  the 
Godhead  himself!  He  would  not  then  have  repined 
at  pursuing  the  thorny  path,  trod  before,  for  his  sake, 
by  the  divine  Victim,  and  with  Job,  he  would  have 
said :  "  Who  is  he  that  hideth  counsel  without  know- 
ledge ?  Therefore  have  I  uttered  that  I  understood 
not ;  things  too  wonderful  for  me,  which  I  knew  not. 
The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord !" 

I  lately  stood  where  the  first  establishment  of  the 
French  was  made,  and  I  saw  no  vestiges  of  their  pas- 
sage, saw  in  the  middle  of  the  space  formerly  occu- 
pied by  the  fort,  where  I  discovered  a  laying  of  bricks 
on  a  level  with  the  ground,  and  covering  the  common 
area  of  a  tomb.  Is  it  the  repository  of  Sauvolle's  re- 
mains ?  I  had  with  me  no  pickaxe  to  solve  the  ques- 
tion, and  indeed,  it  was  more  agreeable  to  the  mood  in 
which  I  was  then,  to  indulge  in  speculations,  than  to 
ascertain  the  truth.  Since  .the  fort  had  been  aban- 
doned, it  was  evident  that  there  never  had  been  any 


REFLECTIONS.  115 

attempt  to  turn  the  ground  to  some  useful  purpose, 
although,  being  cleared  of  trees,  it  must  have  been 
more  eligible  for  a  settlement  than  the  adjoining 
ground  which  remained  covered  with  wood.  Yet,  on 
the  right  and  left,  beyond  the  two  ravines  already  men- 
tioned, habitations  are  to  be  seen ;  but  a  sort  of  tradi- 
tionary awe  seems  to  have  repelled  intrusion  from  the 
spot  marked  by  such  melancholy  recollections.  On 
the  right,  as  you  approach  the  place,  a  beautiful  villa, 
occupied  by  an  Anglo-American  family,  is  replete  with 
all  the  comforts  and  resources  of  modern  civilization ; 
while  on  the  left,  there  may  be  seen  a  rude  hut,  where 
still  reside  descendants  from  the  first  settlers,  living  in 
primitive  ignorance  and  irreclaimable  poverty,  which 
lose,  however,  their  offensive  features,  by  being  mixed 
up  with  so  much  of  patriarchal  virtues,  of  pristine  in- 
nocence, and  of  arcadian  felicity.  Those  two  fami- 
lies, separated  only  by  the  site  of  the  old  fort,  but  be- 
tween whose  social  position  there  existed  such  an  im- 
mense distance,  struck  me  as  being  fit  representatives 
of  the  past  and  of  the  present.  One  was  the  type 
of  the  French  colony,  and  the  other,  the  emblem  of  its 
modern  transformation. 

I  gazed  with  indescribable  feelings  on  the  spot 
where  Sauvolle  and  his  companions  had  suffered  so 
much.  Humble  and  abandoned  as  it  is,  it  was  clothed 
in  my  eye  with  a  sacred  character,  when  I  remem- 


116  REFLECTIONS. 

bered  that  it  was  the  cradle  of  so  many  sovereign 
states,  which  are  but  disjecta  membra  of  the  old  colony 
of  Louisiana.  What  a  contrast  between  the  French 
colony  of  1700,  and  its  imperial  substitute  of  1848! 
Is  there  in  the  mythological  records  of  antiquity,  or  in 
the  fairy  tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  any  thing  that 
will  not  sink  into  insignificance,  when  compared  with 
the  romance  of  such  a  history  ? 


TRIED  LECTURE. 


THIRD  LECTURE. 

SITUATION  OF  THE  COLONY  FROM  1701  TO  1712 — THE  PETTICOAT  IN- 
SURRECTION— HISTORY  AND  DEATH  OF  IBERVIT.LE — BIENVILLE,  THE 
SECOND  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA — HISTORY  OF  ANTHONY  CROZAT, 
THE  GREAT  BANKER CONCESSION  OF  LOUISIANA  TO  HIM. 

SAUVOT-LE  had  died  on  the  22d  of  July,  1701,  and 
Louisiana  had  remained  under  the  sole  charge  of  Bien- 
ville,  who,  though  very  young,  was  fully  equal  to  meet 
that  emergency,  by  the  maturity  of  his  mind  and  by  his 
other  qualifications.  He  had  hardly  consigned  his 
brother  to  the  tomb,  when  Iberville  returned  with  two 
ships  of  the  line  and  a  brig,  laden  with  troops  and  pro- 
visions. The  first  object  that  greeted  his  sight,  on 
his  landing,  was  Bienville,  whose  person  was  in  deep 
mourning,  and  whose  face  wore  such  an  expression  as 
plainly  told  that  a  blow,  fatal  to  both,  had  been  struck 
in  the  absence  of  the  head  of  the  family.  In  their  mute 
embraces,  the  two  brothers  felt  that  they  understood 
each  other  better  than  if  their  grief  had  vented  itself  in 
words,  and  Iberville's  first  impulse  was  to  seek  Sau- 
volle's  tomb.  There  he  knelt  for  hours,  bathed  in 


120  IBERVILLE'S  GRIEF. 

tears,  and  absorbed  in  fervent  prayer  for  him  whom  he 
was  to  see  no  more  in  the  garb  of  mortality.  This  re- 
cent blow  reminded  him  of  a  father's  death,  whom  he 
had  seen  carried  back,  bleeding,  from  the  battle-field ; 
and  then  his  four  brothers,  who  had  met  the  same  stern 
and  honorable  fate,  rose  to  his  sight  with  their  ghastly 
wounds  ;  and  he  bethought  himself  of  the  sweet  and 
melancholy  face  of  his  mother,  who  had  sunk  gradually 
into  the  grave,  drooping  like  a  gentle  flower  under  the 
rough  visitations  of  the  wind  of  adversity.  On  these 
heavy  recollections  of  the  past,  his  heart  swelled  with 
tears,  and  he  implored  heaven  to  spare  his  devoted 
family,  or,  if  any  one  of  its  members  was  again  destined 
to  an  early  death,  to  take  him,  Iberville,  as  a  free  offer- 
ing, in  preference  to  the  objects  of  his  love.  But  there 
are  men,  upon  whom  grief  operates  as  fire  upon  steel : 
it  purifies  the  metal,  and  gives  more  elasticity  to  its 
spring ;  it  works  upon  the  soul  with  that  same  mysteri- 
ous process  by  which  nature  transforms  the  dark  carbun- 
cle into  the  shining  diamond.  Those  men  know  how  to 
turn  from  the  desolation  of  their  heart,  and  survey  the 
world  with  a  clearer,  serener  eye,  to  choose  the  sphere 
where  they  can  best  accomplish  their  missio*n  on  this 
earth — that  mission — the  fulfilment  of  duties  whence 
good  is  to  result  to  mankind,  or  to  their  country.  One 
of  these  highly  gifted  beings  Iberville  was,  and  he  soon 
withdrew  his  attention  from  the  grave,  to  give  it  en- 


DAUPIIINE    ISLAND.  121 

tirely  to  the  consolidation  of  the  great  national  enter- 
prise he  had  undertaken — the  establishment  of  a  colony 
in  Louisiana. 

According  to  Iberville's  orders,  and  in  conformity 
with  the  king's  instructions,  Bienville  left  Boisbriant, 
his  cousin,  with  twenty  men,  at  the  old  fort  of  Biloxi, 
and  transported  the  principal  seat  of  the  colony  to  the 
western  side  of  the  river  Mobile,  not  far  from  the  spot 
where  now  stands  the  city  of  Mobile.  Near  the  mouth 
of  that  river,  there  is  an  island,  which  the  French  had 
called  Massacre  Island,  from  the  great  quantity  of  hu- 
man bones  which  they  found  bleaching  on  its  shores. 
It  was  evident  that  there  some  awful  tragedy  had  been 
acted  ;  but  tradition,  when  interrogated,  laid  her  choppy 
finger  upon  her  skinny  lips,  and  answered  not.  This 
uncertainty,  giving  a  free  scope  to  the  imagination, 
shrouded  the  place  with  a  higher  degree  of  horror,  and 
with  a  deeper  hue  of  fantastical  gloom.  It  looked  like 
the  favorite  ball-room  of  the  witches  of  hell.  The 
wind  sighed  so  mournfully  through  the  shrivelled  up 
pines,  whose  vampire  heads  seemed  incessantly  to  bow 
to  some  invisible  and  grisly  visitors ;  the  footsteps  of 
the  stranger  emitted  such  an  awful  and  supernatural 
sound,  when  trampling  on  the  skulls  which  strewed  his 
path,  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  coldest  imagination 
not  to  labor  under  some  crude  and  ill-defined  appre- 
hensions. Verily,  the  weird  sisters  could  not  have 


122  DAUPHINE    ISLAND. 

chosen  a  fitter  abode.  Nevertheless,  the  French,  sup- 
ported by  their  mercurial  temperament,  were  not  de- 
terred from  forming  an  establishment  on  that  sepulchral 
island,  which,  they  thought,  afforded  some  facilities  for 
their  transatlantic  communications.  They  changed  its 
name,  however,  and  called  it  Dauphine  Island.  As,  to 
many,  this  name  may  be  without  signification,  it  may 
not  be  improper  to  state,  that  the  wife  of  the  eldest  born 
of  the  King  of  France,  and  consequently,  of  the  pre- 
sumptive heir  to  the  crown,  was,  at  that  time,  called  the 
Dauphine,  and  her  husband  the  Dauphin.  This  was 
in  compliment  to  the  province  of  Dauphine",  which  was 
annexed  to  the  kingdom  of  France,  on  the  abdication 
of  a  Count  of  Dauphine",  who  ceded  that  principality 
to  the  French  monarch  in  1349.  Hence  the  origin  of 
the  appellation  given  to  the  island.  It  was  a  high- 
sounding  and  courtly  name  for  such  a  bleak  repository 
of  the  dead ! 

Iberville  did  not  tarry  long  in  Louisiana.  His  home 
was. the  broad  ocean,  where  he  had  been  nursed,  as  it 
were  ;  and  he  might  have  exclaimed  with  truth,  in  the 
words  of  Byron  : — 

—  "I  have  loved  thee,  Ocean  !  and  my  joy 
Of  youthful  sports  was  on  thy  breast  to  be 
Borne,  like  bubbles,  onward  :  from  a  boy 
I  wantoned  with  thy  breakers — they  to  me 
Were  a  delight ;  and  if  the  freshening  sea 


1BERVILLE  LEAVES  THE  COLONY.        123 

Made  them  a  terror — 'twas  a  pleasing  fear, 
For  I  was  as  it  were  a  child  of  thee, 
And  trusted  to  thy  billows  far  and  near,  - 
And  laid  my  hand  upon  thy  mane." 

But,  before  his  departure,  he  gave  some  wholesome 
advice  to  his  government : — "  It  is  necessary,"  said  he, 
in  one  of  his  despatches,  "  to  send  here  honest  tillers  of 
the  earth,  and  not  rogues  and  paupers,  who  come  to 
Louisiana  solely  with  the  intention  of  making  a  fortune, 
by  all  sorts  of  means,  in  order  to  speed  back  to  Europe. 
Such  men  cannot  be  elements  of  prosperity  to  a  colony." 
He  left  those,  of  whom  he  was  the  chief  protector,  abun- 
dantly supplied  with  every  thing,  and  seeing  that  their 
affectionate  hearts  were  troubled  with  manifold  mis- 
givings as  to  their  fate,  which  appeared  to  them  to  be 
closely  linked  with  his  own,  he  promised  soon  to  return, 
and  to  bring  additional  strength  to  what  he  justly  look- 
ed upon  as  his  creation.  But  it  had  been  decreed 
otherwise. 

In  1703,  war  had  broken  out  between  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Spain  ;  and  Iberville,  a  distinguished  officer 
of  the  French  navy,  was  engaged  in  expeditions  that 
kept  him  away  from  the  colony.  It  did  not  cease,  how- 
ever, to  occupy  his  thoughts,  and  had  become  clothed, 
in  his  eye,  with  a  sort  of  family  interest.  Louisiana 
was  thus  left,  for  some  time,  to  her  scanty  resources  ; 
but,  weak  as  she  was,  she  gave  early  proofs  of  that  gen- 


124     THE  COLONY  RELIEVED  BY  PENSACOLA. 

erous  spirit  which  has  ever  since  animated  her ;  and, 
on  the  towns  of  Pensacola  and  San  Augustine,  then  in 
possession  of  the  Spaniards,  being  threatened  with  an 
invasion  by  the  English  of  South  Carolina,  she  sent  to 
her  neighbors  what  help  she  could,  in  men,  ammunition, 
and  supplies  of  all  sorts.  It  was  the  more  meritorious, 
as  it  was  the  obolum  of  the  poor ! 

The  year  1703  slowly  rolled  by,  and  gave  way  to 
1704.  Still,  nothing  was  heard  from  the  parent  coun- 
try. There  seemed  to  be  an  impassable  barrier  between 
the  old  and  the  new  continent.  The  milk  which  flowed 
from  the  motherly  breast  of  France  could  no  longer 
reach  the  parched  lips  of  her  new-born  infant ;  and 
famine  began  to  pinch  the  colonists,  who  scattered 
themselves  all  along  the  coast,  to  live  by  fishing.  They 
were  reduced  to  the  veriest  extremity  of  misery,  and 
despair  had  settled  in  every  bosom,  in  spite  of  the  en- 
couragements of  Bienville,  who  displayed  the  most 
manly  fortitude  amidst  all  the  trials  to  which  he  was 
subjected,  when  suddenly  a  vessel  made  its  appearance. 
The  colonists  rushed  to  the  shore  with  wild  anxiety, 
but  their  exultation  was  greatly  diminished  when,  on 
the  nearer  approach  of  the  moving  speck,  they  recog- 
nized the  Spanish,  instead  of  the  French  flag.  It  was 
relief,  however,  coming  to  them,  and  proffered  by  a 
friendly  hand.  It  was  a  return  made  by  the  governor 
of  Pensacola,  for  the  kindness  he  had  experienced  the 


ARRIVAL    OF    CHATEAUGUE.  125 

year  previous.  Thus,  the  debt  of  gratitude  was  paid  : 
it  was  a  practical  lesson.  Where  the  seeds  of  charity 
are  cast,  there  springs  the  harvest  in  time  of  need. 

Good  things,  like  evils,  do  not -come  single,  and  this 
succor  was  but  the  herald  of  another  one,  still  more 
effectual,  in  the  shape  of  a  ship  from  France.  Iberville 
had  not  been  able  to  redeem  his  pledge  to  the  poor 
colonists,  but  he  had  sent  his  brother  Chateaugue  in  his 
place,  at  the  imminent  risk  of  being  captured  by  the 
English,  who  occupied,  at  that  time,  most  of  the  ave- 
nues of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  He  was  not  the  man  to 
spare  either  himself,  or  his  family,  in  cases  of  emergency, 
and  his  heroic  soul  was  inured  to  such  sacrifices.  Grate- 
ful the  colonists  were  for  this  act  of  devotedness,  and 
they  resumed  the  occupation  of  those  tenements  which 
they  had  abandoned  in  search  of  food.  The  aspect  of 
things  was  suddenly  changed  ;  abundance  and  hope  re- 
appeared in  the  land,  whose  population  was  increased 
by  the  arrival  of  seventeen  persons,  who  came,  under 
the  guidance  of  Chateaugue,  with  the  intention  of 
making  a  permanent  settlement,  and  who,  in  evidence 
of  their  determination,  had  provided  themselves  with 
all  the  implements  of  husbandry.  We,  who  daily  see 
hundreds  flocking  to  our  shores,  and  who  look  at  the 
occurrence  with  as  much  unconcern  as  at  the  passing 
cloud,  can  hardly  conceive  the  excitement  produced  by 
the  arrival  of  those  seventeen  emigrants  among  men 


126  ARRIVAL    OF    WIVES 

who,  for  nearly  two  years,  had  been  cut  off  from  com- 
munication with  the  rest  of  the  civilized  world.  A 
denizen  of  the  moon,  dropping  on  this  planet,  would  not 
be  stared  at  and  interrogated  with  more  eager  curiosity. 
This  excitement  had  hardly  subsided,  when  it  was 
revived  by  the  appearance  of  another  ship,  and  it  be- 
came intense,  when  the  inhabitants  saw  a  procession  of 
twenty  females,  with  veiled  faces,  proceeding  arm  in 
arm,  and  two  by  two,  to  the  house  of  the  governor, 
who  received  them  in  state,  and  provided  them  with 
suitable  lodgings.  What  did  it  mean?  Innumerable 
were  the  gossipings  of  the  day,  and  part  of  the  coming 
night  itself  was  spent  in  endless  commentaries  and  con- 
jectures. But  the  next  morning,  which  was  Sunday, 
the  mystery  was  cleared  by  the  officiating  priest  read- 
ing from  the  pulpit,  after  mass,  and  for  the  general  in- 
formation, the  following  communication  from  the  minis- 
ter to  Bienville :  "  His  majesty  sends  twenty  girls  to  be 
married  to  the  Canadians  and  to  the  other  inhabitants  of 
Mobile,  in  order  to  consolidate  the  colony.  All  these  girls 
are  industrious,  and  have  received  a  pious  and  virtuous 
education.  Beneficial  results  to  the  colony  are  expected 
from  their  teaching  their  useful  attainments  to  the  In- 
dian females.  In  order  that  none  should  be  sent  except 
those  of  known  virtue  and  of  unspotted  reputation,  his 
majesty  did  intrust  the  bishop  of  Quebec  with  the  mis- 
sion of  taking  those  girls  from  such  establishments,  as, 


FOR    THE    COLONISTS.  127 

from  their  very  nature  and  character,  would  put  them 
at  once  above  all  suspicions  of  corruption.  You  will 
take  care  to  settle  them  in  life  as  well  as  may  be  in 
your  power,  and  to  marry  them  to  such  men  as  are 
capable  of  providing  them  with  a  commodious  home." 

This  was  a  very  considerate  recommendation,  and 
very  kind  it  was,  indeed,  from  the  great  Louis  the  XlVth, 
one  of  the  proudest  monarchs  that  ever  lived,  to  de- 
scend from  his  Olympian  seat  of  majesty,  to  the  level 
of  such  details,  and  to  such  minute  instructions  for 
ministering  to  the  personal  comforts  of  his  remote 
Louisianian  subjects.  Many  were  the  gibes  and  high 
was  the  glee  on  that  occasion  ;  pointed  were  the  jokes 
aimed  at  young  Bienville,  on  his  being  thus  transformed 
into  a  matrimonial  agent  and  pater  familise.  The  inten- 
tions of  the  king,  however,  were  faithfully  executed,  and 
more  than  one  rough  but  honest  Canadian  boatman  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  of  the  Mississippi,  closed  his  adven- 
turous and  erratic  career,  and  became  a  domestic  and 
useful  member  of  that  little  commonwealth,  under  the 
watchful  influence  of  the  dark-eyed  maid  of  the  Loire 
or  of  the  Seine.  Infinite  are  the  chords  of  the  lyre 
which  delights  the  romantic  muse ;  and  these  incidents, 
small  and  humble  as  they  are,  appear  to  me  to  be  im- 
bued with  an  indescribable  charm,  which  appeals  to 
her  imagination. 

Iberville  had  gone  back  to  France  since  1701,  and 


128  ARRIVAL    OF    DUCOUDRAY    WITH    SUPPLIES. 

the  year  1705  had  now  begun  its  onward  course,  with- 
out his  having  returned  to  the  colony,  according  to  his 
promise,  so  that  the  inhabitants  had  become  impatient  of 
further  delay.  They  were  in  that  state  of  suspense, 
when  a  ship  of  the  line,  commanded  by  Ducoudray,  ar- 
rived soon  after  the  opening  of  the  year,  but  still  to  dis- 
appoint the  anxious  expectations  of  the  colonists.  No 
Iberville  had  come :  yet  there  was  some  consolation  in 
the  relief  which  was  sent — goods,  provisions,  ammuni- 
tions ;  flesh-pots  of  France,  rivalling,  to  a  certainty, 
those  of  Egypt ;  sparkling  wines  to  cheer  the  cup ; 
twenty-three  girls  to  gladden  the  heart ;  five  priests  to 
minister  to  the  wants  of  the  soul  and  to  bless  holy  al- 
liances ;  two  sisters  of  charity  to  attend  on  the  sick  and 
preside  over  the  hospital  of  the  colony,  and  seventy- five 
soldiers  for  protection  against  the  inroads  of  the  Indians. 
That  was  something  to  be  thankful  for,  and  to  occupy 
;  the  minds  of  the  colonists  for  a  length  of  time.  But 
life  is  chequered  with  many  a  hue,  and  the  antagonisti- 
cal  agents  of  good  and  evil  closely  tread,  in  alternate 
succession,  on  the  heels  of  each  other.  Thus,  the  short- 
lived rejoicings  of  the  colonists  soon  gave  way  to  grief 
and  lamentations.  A  hungry  epidemic  did  not  disdain 
to  prey  upon  the  population,  small  as  it  was,  and  thirty- 
five  persons  became  its  victims.  Thirty-five!  That 
number  was  enormous  in  those  days,  and  the  epidemic 
of  1705  became  as  celebrated  in  the  medical  annals  of 
the  country,  as  will  be  the  late  one  of  1847. 


THE    PETTICOAT    INSURRECTION.  129 

The  history  of  Louisiana,  in  her  early  days,  pre- 
sents a  Shaksperian  mixture  of  the  terrible  and  of  the 
ludicrous.     What  can  be  more  harrowing  than  the 
massacre  of  the  French  settlement  on  the  Wabash  in 
1705 ;    and   in    1706,  what   more   comical   than   the 
threatened  insurrection  of  the  French  girls,  who  had 
come  to  settle  in  the  country,  under  allurements  which 
proved  deceptive,  and  who  were  particularly  indignant 
at  being  fed  on  corn  ?     This  fact  is  mentioned  in  these 
terms  in  one  of  Bienville's  dispatches  :  "  The  males  in 
the  colony  begin,  through  habit,  to  be  reconciled  to    (' 
corn,  as  an  article  of  nourishment ;  but  the  females,  / 
who  are  mostly  Parisians,  have  for  that  kind  of  food  : 
a  dogged  aversion,  which  has  not  yet  been  subdued. 
Hence,  they   inveigh  bitterly  against   his   grace,  the  : 
Bishop  of  Quebec,  who,  they  say,  has  enticed  them  j 
away  from   home,  under  the  pretext  of  sending  them  j 
to  enjoy  the  milk  and  honey  of  the  land  of  promise." 
Enraged  at  having  thus  been  deceived,  they  swore  f 
that  they  would  force  their  way  out  of  the  colony,  on  j 
the  first  opportunity.     This  was   called   the  petticoat  > 
insurrection. 

There  were,  at  that  particular  time,  three  impor- 
tant personages,  who  were  the  hinges  upon  which 
everything  turned  in  the  commonwealth  of  Louisiana. 
These  magnates  were,  Bienville,  the  governor,  who 
wielded  the  sword,  and  who  was  the  great  executive 

7 


130  DISSENSIONS    IN    THE    COLONY. 

mover  of  all ;  La  Salle,  the  intendant  commissary  of 
the  crown,  who  had  the  command  of  the  purse,  and 
who  therefore  might  be  called  the  controlling  power ; 
and  the  Curate  de  la  Vente,  who  was  not  satisfied  with 
mere  spiritual  influence.  Unfortunately,  in  this  Lilli- 
putian administration,  the  powers  of  the  state  and 
church  were  sadly  at  variance,  in  imitation  of  their 
betters  in  larger  communities.  The  commissary,  La 
Salle,  in  a  letter  of  the  7th  of  December,  1706,  accused 
Iberville,  Bienville,  and  Chateaugue,  the  three  brothers, 
of  being  guilty  of  every  sort  of  malfeasances  and  dilapi- 
dations. "  They  are  rogues,"  said  he.  "  who  pilfer  away 
his  Majesty's  goods  and  effects."  The  Curate  de  la 
Vente,  whose  pretensions  to  temporal  power  Bien- 
ville had  checked,  backed  La  Salle,  and  undertook  to 
discredit  the  governor's  authority  with  the  colonists, 
by  boasting  of  his  having  sufficient  influence  at  court 
to  cause  him  to  be  soon  dismissed  from  office. 

On  Bienville's  side  stood,  of  course,  Chateaugue, 
his  brother,  and  Major  Boisbriant,  his  cousin.  But 
Chateaugue  was  a  new  man  (novus  homo)  in  the 
colony,  and  consequently,  had,  as  yet,  acquired  very 
little  weight.  Boisbriant,  although  a  zealous  friend, 
had  found  means  to  increase  the  governor's  vexations, 
by  falling  deeply  in  love.  He  had  been  smitten,  per- 
haps, for  the  want  of  something  better,  with  the 
charms  of  a  lady,  to  whose  charge  had  been  committed 


DISSENSIONS    IN    THE    COLONY.  131 

the  twenty  girls  selected  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
and  who  had  been  appointed,  as  a  sort  of  lay  abbess, 
to  superintend  their  conduct  on  the  way  and  in  Louis- 
iana, until  they  got  provided  with  those  suitable  moni- 
tors, who  are  called  husbands.  That  lady  had  recip- 
rocated the  affections  of  Boisbriant,  and  so  far,  the 
course  of  love  ran  smooth.  But,  as  usual,  it  was 
doomed  to  meet  with  one  of  those  obstacles  which 
have  given  rise  to  so  many  beautiful  literary  composi- 
tions. Bienville  stoutly  objected  to  the  match,  as 
being  an  unfit  one  for  his  relation  and  subordinate, 
and  peremptorily  refused  his  approbation.  Well  may 
the  indignation  of  the  lady  be  conceived !  Boisbriant 
seems  to  have  meekly  submitted  to  the  superior  wis- 
dom of  his  chief,  but  she,  scorning  such  forbearance, 
addressed  herself  to  the  minister,  and  complained,  in 
no  measured  terms,  of  what  she  called  an  act  of  op- 
pression. After  having  painted  her  case  with  as  strong 
colors  as  she  could,  she  very  naturally  concluded  her 
observations  with  this  sweeping  declaration  concern- 
ing Bienville :  "  It  is  therefore  evident  that  he  has  not 
the  necessary  qualifications  to  be  governor  of  this 
colony."  Such  is  the  logic  of  Love,  and  although  it 
may  provoke  a  srnile,  thereby  hangs  a  tale  not  desti- 
tute of  romance. 

These  intestine  dissensions  were  not  the  only  dif- 
ficulties that  Bienville  had  to  cope  with.     The  very 


132  DISSENSIONS    IN    THE    COLONY. 

existence  of  the  colony  was  daily  threatened  by  the 
Indians  ;  a  furious  war,  in  which  the  French  were  fre- 
quently implicated,  raged  between  the  Chickasaws  and 
the  Choctaws ;  and  the  smaller  nations,  principally  the 
Alibamous,  that  prowled- about  the  settlements  of  the 
colonists,  committed  numerous  thefts  and  murders.  It 
seemed  that  all  the  elements  of  disorder  were  at  work 
to  destroy  the  social  organization  which  civilization 
had  begun,  and  that  the  wild  chaos  of  barbarian  sway 
claimed  his  own  again.  Uneasy  lay  the  head  of  Bien- 
ville  in  his  midnight  sleep,  for  fearfully  alive  was  he  to 
the  responsibility  which  rested  on  his  shoulders.  In 
that  disturbed  state  of  his  mind,  with  what  anxiety 
did  he  not  interrogate  the  horizon,  and  strain  to  peep 
into  the  vacancy  of  space,  in  the  fond  hope  that  some 
signs  of  his  brother's  return  would  greet  his  eyes ! 
But,  alas !  the  year  1707  had  run  one  half  of  its  career, 
and  yet  Iberville  came  not.  To  what  remote  parts  of 
heaven  had  the  eagle  flown,  not  to  hear  and  not  to 
mind  the  shrieks  of  the  inmates  of  his  royal  nest? 
Not  oblivious  the  eagle  had  been,  but  engaged  in  car- 
rying Jove's  thunderbolts,  he  had  steadily  pursued  the 
accomplishment  of  his  task. 

Dropping  the  metaphorical  style,  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  state,  that  during  the  five  years  he  had  been 
absent  from  Louisiana,  Iberville  had  been,  with  his 
usual  success,  nobly  occupied  in  supporting  the  honor 


EARLY    LIFE    OF    IBEEVILLE.  133 

of  his  country's  flag,  and  in  increasing  the  reputation 
which  he  had  already  gained,  as  one  of  the  brightest 
gems  of  the  French  navy.  If  the  duration  of  a  man's 
existence  is  to  be  measured  by  the  merit  of  his  deeds, 
then  Iberville  had  lived  long,  before  reaching  the  me- 
ridian of  life,  and  he  was  old  in  fame,  if  not  in  years, 
when  he  undertook  to  establish  a  colony  in  Louisiana. 
From  his  early  youth,  all  his  days  had  been  well  spent, 
because  dedicated  to  some  useful  or  generous  purpose. 
The  soft  down  of  adolescence  had  hardly  shaded  his 
face,  when  he  had  become  the  idol  of  his  countrymen. 
The  foaming  brine  of  the  ocean,  the  dashing  waters 
of  the  rivers,  the  hills  and  valleys  of  his  native  country 
and  of  the  neighboring  British  possessions,  had  wit- 
nessed his  numerous  exploits.  Such  were  the  confi- 
dence and  love  with  which  he  had  inspired  the  Cana- 
dians and  Acadians  for  his  person,  by  the  irresistible 
seduction  of  his  manners,  by  the  nobleness  of  his  de- 
portment, by  the  dauntless  energy  of  his  soul,  and  by 
the  many  qualifications  of  his  head  and  heart,  that 
they  would,  said  Father  Charlevoix,  have  followed  him 
to  the  confines  of  the  universe.  It  would  be  too  long 
to  recite  his  wonderful  achievements,  and  the  injuries 
which  he  inflicted  upon  the  fleets  of  England,  particu- 
larly in  the  Bay  of  Hudson,  either  by  open  force,  or 
by  stealth  and  surprise.  When  vessels  were  icebound, 
they  were  more  than  once  stormed  by  Iberville  and 


134  EXPLOITS  OF  IBERVILLE. 

his  intrepid  associates.  Two  of  his  brothers,  Ste. 
Helene  and  Mericourt,  both  destined  to  an  early  death, 
used  to  be  his  willing  companions  in  those  adventur- 
ous expeditions.  At  other  times,  when  the  war  of 
the  elements  seemed  to  preclude  any  other  contest, 
Iberville,  in  a  light  buoyant  craft,  which  sported  mer- 
rily on  the  angry  waves,  would  scour  far  and  wide  the 
Bay  of  Hudson,  and  the  adjacent  sea,  to  prey  upon  the 
commerce  of  the  great  rival  of  France,  and  many  were 
the  prizes  which  he  brought  into  port.  These  were 
the  sports  of  his  youth. 

The  exploits  of  Iberville  on  land  and  at  sea,  ac- 
quired for  him  a  sort  of  amphibious  celebrity.  Among 
other  doings  of  great  daring,  may  be  mentioned  the 
taking  of  Corlar,  near  Orange,  in  the  province  of  New- 
York.  In  November,  1694,  he  also  took,  in  the  Bay  of 
Hudson,  the  fort  of  Port  Nelson,  defended  by  forty-two 
pieces  of  artillery,  and  he  gave  it  the  name  of  Fort 
Bourbon.  In  1696  he  added  to  his  other  conquests,  the 
Fort  of  Pemknit,  in  Acadia.  When  Chubb,  the  En- 
glish commander,  was  summoned  to  surrender,  he  re- 
turned this  proud  answer  :  "  If  the  sea  were  white  with 
French  sails,  and  the  land  dark  with  Indians,  I  would 
not  give  up  the  fort,  unless  when  reduced  to  the  very 
last  extremities."  In  spite  of  this  vaunt,  he  was  soon 
obliged  to  capitulate.  The  same  year,  Iberville  pos- 
sessed himself  of  the  Fort  of  St.  John,  in  Newfound- 


ARRIVAL    OF    1BERVILLE    AT    SAN    DOMINGO.          135 

land,  and  in  a  short  time  forced  the  rest  of  that  province 
to  yield  to  his  arms.  The  French,  however,  did  not 
retain  it  long.  But  his  having  revived  La  Salle's  pro- 
ject of  establishing  a  colony  in  Louisiana,  constitutes, 
on  account  of  the  magnitude  of  its  results,  his  best  claim 
to  the  notice  of  posterity.  We  have  seen  how  he  exe- 
cuted that  important  undertaking. 

After  a  long  absence  from  that  province,  the  colo- 
nization of  which  was  his  favorite  achievement,  he  was 
now  preparing  to  return  to  its  shores,  and  arrived  at 
San  Domingo,  having  under  his  command  a  consider- 
able fleet,  with  which  he  meditated  to  attack  Charles- 
ton, in  South  Carolina ;  from  whence  he  cherished  the 
hope  of  sailing  for  Louisiana,  with  all  the  pomp,  pride, 
and  circumstance  of  glorious  victory.  He  had  stopped 
at  San  Domingo,  because  he  had  been  authorized  to 
reinforce  himself  with  a  thousand  men,  whom  he  was 
to  take  out  of  the  garrison  of  that  island.  The  ships  had 
been  revictualled,  the  troops  were  embarked,  and  Iber- 
ville  was  ready  to  put  to  sea,  when  a  great  feast  was 
tendered  to  him  and  to  his  officers,  by  the  friends  from 
whom  he  was  soon  to  part.  Loud  the  sound  of  revelry 
was  still  heard  in  hall  and  bower,  when  Iberville,  whose 
thoughts  dwelt  on  the  responsibilities  of  the  expedition 
which  had  been  trusted  to  his  care,  withdrew  from  the 
assembly,  where  he  had  been  the  observed  of  all,  leav- 
ing and  even  encouraging  his  subordinates  to  enjoy  the 


130  JBERV1LLE    IN    SAN    DOMINGO. 

rest  of  that  fairy  night,  which  he  knew  was  soon  to  be 
succeeded  for  them  by  the  perils  and  hardships  of  war. 
He  was  approaching  that  part  of  the  shore  where  his 
boat  lay,  waiting  to  carry  him  to  his  ship,  when,  as  he 
trod  along,  in  musing  loneliness,  his  attention  was 
attracted  by  the  beauties  of  the  tropical  sky,  which 
gleamed  over  his  head.  From  that  spangled  canopy, 
so  lovely  that  it  seemed  worthy  of  Eden,  there  appeared 
to  descend  an  ambrosial  atmosphere,  which  glided 
through  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  body,  gladdening 
the  whole  frame  with  voluptuous  sensations. 

"  All  was  so  still,  so  soft,  in  earth  and  air, 
You  scarce  would  start  to  meet  a  spirit  there ; 
Secure  that  nought  of  evil  could  delight 
To  walk  in  such  a  scene,  on  such  a  night !" 

Iberville's  pace  slackened  as  he  admired,  and  at  last  he 
stopped,  rooted  to  the  ground,  as  it  were,  by  a  sort  of 
magnetic  influence,  exercised  upon  him  by  the  fascina- 
tions of  the  scene.  Folding  his  arms,  and  wrapt  up  in 
ecstasy,  he  gazed  long  and  steadily  at  the  stars  which 
studded  the  celestial  vault. 

O  stars  !  who  has  not  experienced  your  mystical 
and  mysterious  power !  Who  has  ever  gazed  at  ye, 
without  feeling  uridefinable  sensations,  something  of 
awe,  and  a  vague  consciousness  that  ye  are  connected 
with  the  fate  of  mortals !  Ye  silent  orbs,  that  move 


IBERVILLE    IN    SAN    DOMINGO.  137 

with  noiseless  splendor  through  the  infiniteness  of 
space,  how  is  it  that  your  voice  is  so  distinctly  heard 
in  the  soul  of  man,  if  his  essence  and  yours  were  not 
bound  together  by  some  electric  link,  as  are  all  things, 
no  doubt,  in  the  universe  ?  How  the  eyes  grow  dim 
with  rapturous  tears,  and  the  head  dizzy  with  wild  fan- 
cies, when  holding  communion  with  you,  on  the  mid- 
night watch  !  Ye  stars,  that,  scattered  over  the  broad 
expanse  of  heaven,  look  to  me  as  if  ye  were  grains  of 
golden  dust,  which  God  shook  oft*  his  feet,  as  he  walked 
in  his  might,  on  the  days  of  creation,  I  love  and  worship 
you !  When  there  was  none  in  the  world  to  sympa- 
thize with  an  aching  heart,  with  a  heart  that  would 
have  disdained,  in  its  lonely  pride,  to  show  its  pangs  to 
mortal  eyes,  how  often  have  I  felt  relief  in  your  pre- 
sence from  the  bitter  recollection  of  past  woes,  and  con- 
solation under  the  infliction  of  present  sufferings !  How 
often  have  I  drawn  from  you  such  inspirations  as  pre- 
pared me  to  meet,  with  fitting  fortitude,  harsher  trials 
still  to  come  !  How  often  have  I  gazed  upon  you,  until, 
flying  upon  the  wings  of  imagination,  I  soared  among 
your  bright  host,  and  spiritualized  myself  away,  far 
away,  from  the  miseries  of  my  contemptible  existence! 
Howsoever  that  ephemeral  worm,  cynical  man,  may 
sneer,  he  is  no  idle  dreamer,  the  lover  of  you,  the  star- 
gazer.  The  broad  sheet  of  heaven  to  which  ye  are 
affixed,  like  letters  of  fire,  is  a  book  prepared  by  God 

7" 


138  WARNING    TO    IBERV1LLK. 

for  the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  where  man  can  read 
lessons  to  guide  him  through  the  active  duties  and  the 
struggles  of  this  life,  and  to  conduct  him  safely  to  the 
portals  of  the  eternal  one  which  awaits  mortality ! 

Thus,  perhaps,  Iberville  felt,  as  he  was  spying  the 
face  of  heaven.  Suddenly,  his  reverie  was  interrupted 
by  a  slight  tap  on  the  shoulder.  He  started,  and  look- 
ing round,  saw  a  venerable  monk,  whose  person  was 
shrouded  up  in  a  brownish  gown  and  hood,  which  hardly 
left  any  thing  visible  save  his  sharp,  aquiline  nose,  his 
long  gray  beard,  and  his  dark  lustrous  eyes.  "  My  son !" 
said  he,  in  a  deep  tone,  "what  dost  thou  see  above  that 
thus  rivets  thy  attention  ?"  "  Nothing,  father,"  replied 
Iberville,  bowing  reverentially,  "  nothing  !  From  the 
contemplation  of  these  luminaries,  to  which  my  eyes 
had  been  attracted  by  their  unusual  radiancy,  I  had 
fallen  insensibly,  I  do  not  know  how,  into  dreamy  spec- 
ulations, from  which  you  have  awakened  me,  father." 
"  Poor  stranger !"  continued  the  rnonk,  with  a  voice 
shaking  with  emotion,  "  thou  hast  seen  nothing  !  But 
/  have,  and  will  tell  thee.  Fly  hence !  death  is  around 
thee — it  is  in  the  very  air  which  thou  dost  breathe. 
Seest  thou  that  deep,  blue  transparency  of  heaven,  so 
transparently  brilliant,  that  the  vault  which  it  forms, 
seems  to  be  melting  to  let  thy  sight,  as  thou  gazest, 
penetrate  still  farther  and  without  limits, — it  portends 
of  death !  This  soft,  balmy  breeze  which  encompasseth 


WARNING    TO    IBERVILLE.  131) 

thee  with  its  velvet  touch,  it  is  pleasing,  but  fatal  as  the 
meretricious  embraces  of  a  courtesan,  which  allure  the 
young  to  sin,  to  remorse,  and  to  death !  Above  all, 
look  at  that  sign,  stamped  on  the  stars  :  it  is  a  never- 
failing  one.  Dost  thou  see  how  they  blink  and  twinkle, 
like  the  eyes  of  warning  angels  ?  They  no  longer  ap- 
pear like  fixed  incrustations  in  the  vault  of  heaven, 
but  they  seem  to  oscillate  with  irregular  and  tremulous 
vibrations.  Hasten  away  with  all  speed.  The  pesti- 
lence is  abroad  ;  it  stalks  onward,  the  dire  queen  of  the 
land.  It  is  now  amidst  yonder  revellers,  whose  music 
and  mundane  mirth  reach  our  ears.  Incumbent  on  its 
hell-black  pinions,  the  shapeless  monster  hovers  over 
you  all,  selecting  its  victims,  and  crossing  their  fore- 
heads with  its  deadly  finger.  Mark  me  !  That  awful 
scourge,  the  yellow  fever,  has  been  hatched  to-night. 
Keep  out  of  its  path,  if  yet  there  be  time  :  if  not,  mayst 
thou,  my  son,  be  prepared  to  meet  thy  God !"  So  say- 
ing, the  monk  made  the  holy  sign  of  the  cross,  blessed 
with  his  extended  index  the  astonished  Iberville,  who 
devoutly  uncovered  himself,  and  then  slowly  departed, 
vanishing  like  a  bird  of  ill  omen  in  the  gloom  of  the 
night. 

It  was  morn.  With  his  brother  officers,  Iberville 
sat  at  a  table,  covered  with  maps,  charts  and  scientific 
instruments.  The  object  of  their  meeting  was  to  come 
to  a  definite  understanding  as  to  the  plan  of  the  intended 


140  1BERVILLE  S    SICKNESS    AND    DEATH. 

campaign,  and  to  regulate  their  future  movements. 
Suddenly,  Iberville,  who,  calm  and  self-collected,  had 
been  explaining  his  views,  sprung  up  from  his  seat  with 
the  most  intense  expression  of  pain  in  his  haggard  fea- 
tures. It  seemed  to  him  as  if  all  the  fires  and  whirl- 
winds of  a  volcano  had  concentrated  in  his  agonized 
head.  His  blodshot  eyes  revolved  in  their  orbits  with 
restless  vivacity,  and  had  that  peculiar  daguerreotype 
glare,  so  annoying  to  the  looker-on.  Yellowish  streaks 
spread  instantaneously  over  his  face,  as  if  there  deposited 
by  a  coarse  painter's  brush.  Sharp  shooting  throes 
racked  his  spine  :  cold  shudderings  shook  his  stiffened 
limbs,  and  his  blood  pulsated,  as  if  it  were  bursting  from 
his  veins  to  escape  from  the  tormoil  into  which  it  had 
been  heated  by  some  malignant  spell. — At  such  a  sight, 
the  officers  cried  out,  with  one  simultaneous  voice, 
"Poison!  poison!"  "No!  no!"  exclaimed  Iberville, 
gasping  for  breath,  and  falling  on  a  couch,  "  not 
poison  !  but  the  predicted  pestilence  !  fly,  fly,  my  friends 
— ah  !  the  monk !  the  prophetic  monk  ! — he  spoke  the 
truth !  O  God !  my  prayer  at  Sauvolle's  tomb  has 
been  heard  ! — Well !  content !  Thy  will  be  done  ! 
To  mother  earth  I  yield  my  body,  ashes  to  ashes,  and 
to  Thee  my  immortal  soul !"  These  words  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  wildest  delirium,  and  ere  five  hours  had 
elapsed,  Iberville  had  been  gathered  to  his  forefathers' 
bosom.  Thus  died  this  truly  great  and  good  man,  in 


BIENVILLE'S  INTERVIEW  WITH  INDIAN  CHIEFS.     141 

compliment  to  whose  memory  the  name  of  Iberville 
has  been  given  to  one  of  our  most  important  parishes. 

Ill  was  the  wind  that  carried  to  Louisiana  the  me- 
lancholy information  of  Iberville's  death.  It  blasted 
the  hearts  of  the  poor  colonists,  and  destroyed  the  hope 
they  had  of  being  speedily  relieved.  Their  situation 
had  become  truly  deplorable :  their  numbers  were  ra- 
pidly diminishing :  and  the  Indians  were  daily  becom- 
ing more  hostile,  and  more  bold  in  their  demands  for 
goods  and  merchandise,  as  a  tribute  which  they  exacted 
for  not  breaking  out  into  actual  warfare.  Bienville 
convened  the  chiefs  of  the  Chickasaws  and  of  the  Choc- 
taws,  in  order  to  conciliate  them  by  some  trifling  presents 
of  which  he  could  yet  dispose,  and  to  gain  time  by  some 
fair  promises  as  to  what  he  would  do  for  them  under 
more  favorable  circumstances.  With  a  view  of  making 
an  imposing  show,  Bienville  collected  all  the  colonists 
that  were  Within  reach  :  but  notwithstanding  that  dis- 
play, a  question,  propounded  by  one  of  the  Indian  chiefs, 
gave  him  a  humiliating  proof  of  the  slight  estimation  in 
which  the  savages  held  the  French  nation.  Much  to 
his  annoyance,  he  was  asked  if  that  part  of  his  people 
which  remained  at  home  was  as  numerous  as  that  which 
had  come  to  settle  in  Louisiana.  Bienville,  who  spoke 
their  language  perfectly  well,  attempted,  by  words  and 
comparisons,  suited  to  their  understanding,  to  impart  to 
them  a  correct  notion  of  the  extent  of  the  population 


142  HIS    CRITICAL    POSITION. 

of  France.  But  the  Indians  looked  incredulous,  and 
one  of  them  even  said  to  Bienville,  "  If  your  country- 
men are,  as  you  affirm,  as  thick  on  their  native  soil  as 
the  leaves  of  our  forests,  how  is  it  that  they  do  not  send 
more  of  their  warriors  here,  to  avenge  the  death  of 
such  of  them  as  have  fallen  by  our  hands  ?  Not  to  do 
so,  when  having  the  power,  would  argue  them  to  be  of 
a  very  base  spirit.  And  how  is  it  that  most  of  the  tall 
and  powerful  men  that  came  with  you,  being  dead,  are 
replaced  only  by  boys,  or  cripples,  or  women,  that  do 
you  no  credit  ?  Surely  the  French  would  not  so  be- 
have, if  they  could  do  otherwise,  and  my  white  brother 
tells  a  story  that  disparages  his  own  tribe." 

Thus  Bienville  found  himself  in  a  very  critical  situa- 
tion. He  was  conscious  that  his  power  was  despised 
by  the  Indians,  who  knew  that  he  had  only  forty-five 
soldiers  at  his  disposal,  and  he  felt  that  the  red  men  could 
easily  rise  upon  him  and  crush  the  colony  sj,t  one  blow. 
He  was  aware  that  they  were  restrained  from  doing 
the  deed  by  their  cupidity  only,  bridled  as  they  were  by 
their  expectation  of  the  arrival  of  some  ship  with  mer- 
chandise, which,  they  knew  from  experience,  would 
soon  have  to  come  to  their  huts  to  purchase  peace,  and 
in  exchange  for  furs.  Bienville  felt  so  weak,  so  much 
at  the  'mercy  of  the  surrounding  nations,  and  enter- 
tained such  an  apprehension  of  some  treacherous  and 
sudden  attack  on  their  part,  that  he  thought  it  prudent 


INTRIGUES    OF    LA    SALLE.  143 

to  concentrate  his  forces,  and  to  abandon  the  fort  where 
he  kept  a  small  garrison  on  the  Mississippi. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  death  of  Iberville  had  en- 
couraged the  hostility  of  Bienville's  enemies.  They 
knew  that  he  was  no  longer  supported  by  the  powerful 
influence  of  his  brother  at  court,  and  they  renewed  their 
attacks  with  a  better  hope  of  success.  The  commissary 
La  Salle  pushed  on  his  intrigues  with  more  activity, 
and  reduced  them  to  a  sort  of  systematic  warfare.  He 
divided  the  colony  into  those  that  were  against  and 
those  that  were  for  Bienville.  All  such  persons  as  sup- 
ported the  governor's  administration  were  branded  as 
felons :  and  those  that  pursued  another  course,  who- 
ever they  might  be,  were  angels  of  purity.  At  that 
time,  there  was  in  the  colony  a  physician,  sent  thither 
and  salaried  by  the  government,  who  was  called  the 
king's  physician.  His  name  was  Barrot :  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  his  being  the  only  member  of  his  profes- 
sion in  the  country,  and  from  the  nature  of  his  duties, 
he  was  in  a  position  to  exercise  a  good  deal  of  influ- 
ence. La  Salle  attempted  to  win  him  over  to  his  side, 
and  having  failed  in  his  efforts,  he  immediately  wrote  to 
the  minister,  "  that  Barrot,  although  he  had  the  honor 
of  being  the  king's  physician  in  the  colony,  was  no  bel- 
ter than  a  fool,  a  drunkard  and  a  rogue,  who  sold  the 
king's  drugs  and  appropriated  the  money  to  his  own 
purposes." 


144  CHARACTER    OF    LA    SALLE. 

Authors,  who  have  written  on  the  structure  of  man, 
have  said  that  if  his  features  were  closely  examined, 
there  would  be  found  in  them  a  strange  resemblance 
with  some  of  the  animals,  of  the  birds,  or  of  the  rep- 
tiles that  people  this  globe.  I  remember  having  seen 
curious  engravings  exemplifying  this  assertion  with  the 
most  wronderful  effect.  In  a  moral  sense,  the  resem- 

^j> 

blance  is  perhaps  greater,  and  the  whale,  the  lion,  the 
eagle,  the  wolf,  the  lamb,  and  other  varieties  of  the 
brutish  creation,  may,  without  much  examination,  be 
discovered  to  exist,  physically  and  spiritually,  in  the  hu- 
man species.  Among  the  bipeds  that  are  reckoned  to 
belong  to  the  ranks  of  humanity,  none  was  better  calcu- 
lated than  La  Salle  to  personate  the  toad.  His  mission 
was  to  secrete  venom,  as  the  rose  exhales  perfumes.  Na- 
ture delights  in  contrarieties.  Fat,  short,  and  sleek,  with 
bloated  features  and  oily  skin,  he  was  no  unfit  repre- 
sentative of  that  reptile,  although  certainly  to  him  the 
traditionary  legend  of  a  jewel  in  the  head  could  not 
be  applied.  Puffed  up  in  self-conceit,  an  eternal  smile 
of  contentment  was  stereotyped  on  the  gross  texture 
of  his  lips,  where  it  was  mixed  with  an  expression  of 
bestial  sensuality.  His  cold  grayish  eyes  had  the  dull 
squint  of  the  hog,  and  as  he  strutted  along,  one  was 
almost  amazed  not  to  hear  an  occasional  grunt.  This 
thing  of  the  neuter  gender,  which,  to  gift,  with  the  fac- 
ulty of  speech,  seemed  to  be  an  injustice  done  to  the 


CHARACTER    OF    LA    SALLE.  145 

superior  intellect  of  the  baboon,  did,  forsooth,  think 
itself  an  orator.  Whenever  this  royal  commissary 
had  a  chance  of  catching  a  few  of  the  colonists 
together,  for  instance,  on  all  public  occasions,  he  would 
gradually  drop  the  tone  of  conversation,  and  sublimate 
his  colloquial  address  into  a  final  harangue.  Thus,  the 
valves  of  his  brazen  throat  being  open,  out  ran  the 
muddy  water  of  his  brain,  bespattering  all  that  stood 
within  reach.  Pitched  on  a  high  and  monotonous  key, 
his  prosy  voice  carried  to  his  hearers,  for  hours,  the 
same  inane,  insipid  flow  of  bombastic  phrases,  falling 
on  the  ear  with  the  unvaried  and  ever-recurring  sound 
of  a  pack-horse  wheel  in  a  flour-mill.  A  coiner  of 
words,  he  could  have  filled  with  them  the  vaults  of  the 
vastest  mint ;  but  if  analyzed  and  reduced  to  their 
sterling  value,  they  woultl  not  have  produced  a  grain 
of  sense.  This  man,  contemptible  as  he  was,  had  ac- 
tually become  a  public  nuisance,  on  account  of  the 
impediments  with  which  he  embarrassed  the  adminis- 
tration of  Louisiana.  He  was  eternally  meddling 
with  every  thing,  under  the  pretext  of  correcting 
abuses,  and  although  he  was  incapable  of  producing 
any  thing  of  his  own,  that  could  stand  on  its  legs  for 
a  minute,  he  was  incessantly  concocting  some  plan,  as 
ill-begotten  as  his  own  misshapen  person.  lie  was,  in 
his  own  delirious  opinion,  as  complete  a  financier,  as 
skilful  a  statesman,  as  great  a  general,  and,  above  all. 


1'16  CHARACTER    OF    LA    SALLE. 

as  profound  a  legislator,  as  ever  lived ;  so  that  this 
legislative  Caliban  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  imagine 
he  could  frame  a  code  of  laws  for  the  colony ;  and, 
because  all  his  preposterous  propositions  were  resisted 
by  Bienville,  he  had  conceived  for  him  the  bitterest 
hatred.  To  do  him  justice,  it  must  be  said  that  he 
was  in  earnest,  when  he  reproached  others  with  mal- 
versation and  every  sort  of  malfeasances.  There  are 
creatures  whose  accusations  it  would  be  wrong  to 
resent.  They  see  themselves  reflected  in  others,  and, 
like  yelping  curs,  pursue  with  their  barkings  the  sinful 
image :  it  would  be  as  idle  to  expect  them  to  under- 
stand the  workings  of  a  noble  heart  and  of  a  great 
mind,  as  it  would  be  to  imagine  that  a  worm  could 
raise  itself  to  the  conception  of  a  planet's  gravita- 
tions. 

So  thought  Bienville,  and  he  passed  with  silent 
contempt  over  La  Salle's  manosuvres.  Was  he  not 
right  ?  He  who  thinks  himself  your  adversary,  but 
who,  if  you  were  to  turn  upon  him  with  the  flashes  of 
honest  indignation,  with  the  uplifted  spear  of  physical 
and  mental  power  united,  with  the  threatening  aspect 
of  what  he  does  not  possess  and  dreams^not  of,  a  soul, 
convulsed  into  a  storm,  would  shrink"  into  an  atom  and 
flatten  himself  to  the  level  of  your  heels,  cannot  be  a 
real  adversary :  his  enmity  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  vain 
shadow,  the  phantasm  of  impotent  envy,  '.^his  is  no 


DISMISSAL    OF    BIENV1LLE    FROM    OFFICE.  147 

doubt  the  most  dignified  course  to  be  pursued,  but  per- 
haps not  the  most  prudent ;  and  Bienville  soon  dis- 
covered that,  howsoever  it  may  be  in  theory,  there  is, 
in  practice,  no  attack  so  pitiful  as  not  to  require  some 
sort  of  precautionary  defence.  Thus  on  the  13th  of 
July,  1707,  the  minister  dismissed  Bienville  from  office, 
appointed  De  Muys  in  his  place,  and  instructed  this 
new  governor  to  examine  into  the  administration  of 
his  predecessor,  and  into  the  accusations  brought 
against  him,  with  the  authorization  of  sending  him 
prisoner  to  France,  if  they  were  well  founded.  A 
poor  chance  it  was  for  Bienville,  to  be  judged  by  the 
man  that  pushed  him  from  his  stool,  and  whose  con- 
tinuance in  office  would  probably  depend  upon  the 
guilt  of  the  accused  !  This  was  but  a  sorry  return  for 
the  services  of  Bienville  and  for  those  of  his  distin- 
guished family.  But  thus  goes  the  world  ! 

La  Salle  had  no  cause  to  triumph  over  the  downfall 
of  Bienville,  for  he  himself  was,  at  the  same  time, 
dismissed  from  office,  and  was  succeeded  by  Diron 
d'Artaguelle.  Nay,  he  had  the  mortification  of  seeing 
Bienville  retain  his  power,  while  he  lost  his  ;  because 
De  Muys  never  reached  Louisiana,  having  died  in 
Ilavana^on.  his  way  to  the  colony  of  which  he  had 
been  appoi-hted  governor.  To  increase  his  vexation, 
he  saw  that  most  of  the  colonists,  even  those  who  had 
been  momentarily  opposed  to  Bienville,  became  sud- 


148  CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONY. 

denly  alive  to  his  merits,  when  they  were  on  the  eve 
of  losing  him,  and  with  spontaneous  unanimity,  sub- 
scribed a  petition,  by  which  they  expressed  their  satis- 
faction with  Bienville's  administration,  and  supplicated 
the  minister  not  to  deprive  them  of  such  a  wise  and 
faithful  governor.  This  was  sufficiently  distressing  for 
La  Salle's  envious  heart ;  but  his  spleen  was  worked  into 
a  paroxysm  of  rage,  when  he  was  informed  that  his 
successor,  the  royal  commissary,  Diron  d'Artaguelle, 
had  made  a  report  to  the  king,  in  which  he  declared, 
that  all  the  accusations  brought  against  Bienville,  were 
mere  slanderous  inventions,  which  rested  on  no  other 
foundation  than  the  blackest  malice.  Writhing  like  a 
snake,  under  the  unexpected  blow,  he  still  attempted 
to  sting,  and  he  wrote  to  France,  "  that  D'Artaguelle 
was  not  deserving  of  any  faith  or  credit ;  that  he  had 
come  to  an  understanding  with  Bienville,  and  that  they 
were  both  equally  bad  and  corrupt." 

It  was  by  such  misunderstandings  among  the  chiefs 
of  the  colony,  that  its  progress  was  checked  so  long. 
In  1708,  its  population  did  not  exceed  279  persons. 
To  that  number  must  be  added  sixty  Canadian  vaga- 
bonds, who  led  a  wandering  and  licentious  life  among 
the  Indians.  Its  principal  wealth  consisted  in  50 
cows,  40  calves,  4  bulls,  8  oxen,  1400  hogs,  and  2000 
hens.  This  statement  shows  the  feebleness  of  the 
colony  after  an  existence  of  nine  years.  But  the 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONY.  149 

golden  eggs  had  been  laid  in  the  land,  and  although 
kept  torpid  and  unprofitable  for  more  than  a  century, 
by  the  chilling  contact  of  an  imbecile  despotism,  they, 
in  the  progress  of  time,  were  hatched  by  the  warm 
incubation  of  liberty  into  the  production*of  that  splen- 
did order  of  things,  which  is  the  wonder  of  the  pre- 
sent age. 

But,  at  that  time,  the  colony  seemed  to  be  gifted 
with  little  vitality,  and  the  nursling  of  Bienville 
threatened  to  expire  in  his  hands  at  every  moment. 
The  colonists  were  little  disposed  to  undertake  the 
laborious  task  of  securing  their  subsistence  by  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil,  and  they  expected  that  the  mother 
country  would  minister  to  all  their  wants.  Servile 
hands  would  have  been  necessary,  but  Indian  slavery 
was  not  found  to  be  profitable,  and  Bienville  wrote  to 
his  government  to  obtain  the  authorization  of  exchang- 
ing Indians  for  negroes,  with  the  French  West  India 
Islands.  "  We  shall  give,"  said  he,  "  three  Indians  for 
two  negroes.  The  Indians,  when  in  the  islands,  will 
not  be  able  to  run  away,  the  country  being  unknown 
to  them,  and  the  negroes  will  not  dare  to  become 
fugitives  in  Louisiana,  because  the  Indians  would  kill 
them."  This  demand  met  with  no  favorable  recep- 
tion. Bienville  was  so  anxious  to  favor  the  develop- 
ment of  the  colony,  that  he  was  led  by  it  into  an  un- 
just and  despotic  measure,  as  is  proved  by  the  follow- 


150  CONDITION    OF    THE    COLONY. 

ing  extract  from  one  of  his  despatches.  "I  have 
ordered  several  citizens  of  La  Rochelle  to  be  closely 
watched,  beause  they  wish  to  quit  the  country.  They 
have  scraped  up  something  by  keeping  taverns.  There- 
fore it  appears  to  me  to  be  nothing  but  justice  to 
force  them  to  remain  in  the  country,  on  the  substance 
of  which  they  have  fattened."  This  sentiment,  how- 
soever it  may  disagree  with  our  modern  notions  of 
right  and  wrong,  was  not  repugnant  to  the  ethics  of 
the  time. 

In  spite  of  the  spirited  exertions  of  Bienville,  famine 
re-appeared  in  the  colony,  and  in  January,  1709,  the 
inhabitants  were  reduced  to  live  on  acorns.  As  usual, 
under  such  circumstances,  the  intestine  dissensions,  of 
which  such  a  melancholy  description  has  been  already 
given,  became  more  acrid.  The  minds  of  men  are  not 
apt  to  grow  conciliating  under  the  double  infliction  of 
disappointment  and  famine,  and  the  attacks  upon  Bien- 
ville were  renewed  with  more  than  usual  fierceness. 
La  Salle,  although  now  stripped  of  the  trappings  of  office, 
still  remained  in  the  colony,  to  pursue  his  game,  and  to 
force  the  noble  lord  of  the  forest  to  stand  at  bay.  His  as- 
sociate in  persecution,  the  Curate  de  la  Vente,  hallooed 
with  him  in  zealous  imitation,  and  it  is  much  to  be  re- 
gretted that  they  were  joined  in  the  chase  by  Marigny 
de  Mandeville,  a  brave  and  noble-minded  officer,  lately 
come  to  the  country,  who  informed  his  government 


CONDITION  OP  THE  COLONY.          151 

"  that  the  colony  never  would  prosper  until  it  had  a 
governor  with  an  honest  heart  and  with  an  energetic 
mind ;"  which  meant  that  Bienville  was  deficient  in 
both.  It  was  an  error  committed  by  Marigny  de  Man- 
deville,  and  into  which  he  was  no  doubt  led  by  the 
misrepresentations  of  La  Salle  and  of  the  Curate  de  la 
Vente. 

Bienville  had  so  far  remained  passive,  but  was  at 
last  stung  into  angry  recriminations,  which  he  retorted 
on  all  his  adversaries,  particularly  on  the  Curate  de  la 
Vente,  who,  said  he,  "  had  tried  to  stir  up  every  body 
against  him  by  his  calumnies,  and  who,  in  the  mean 
time,  did  not  blush  to  keep  an  open  shop,  where  his  mode 
of  trafficking  showed  that  he  was  a  shrewd  compound 
of  the  Arab  and  of  the  Jew." 

The  scarcity  of  provisions  became  such  in  1710, 
that  Bienville  informed  his  government  that  he  had 
scattered  the  greater  part  of  his  men  among  the  Indians, 
upon  whom  he  had  quartered  them  for  food.  This 
measure  had  been  more  than  once  adopted  before,  and 
demonstrates  that  the  Indians  could  hardly  have  been 
so  hostile  as  they  have  been  represented  ;  otherwise, 
they  would  have  availed  themselves  of  such  opportuni- 
ties to  destroy  the  invaders  of  their  territory.  Be  it  as 
it  may,  the  colony  continued  in  its  lingering  condition, 
gasping  for  breath  in  its  cradle,  until  1712,  when,  on 
the  14th  of  September,  the  King  of  France  granted  to 


152  ROYAL    CHARTER    TO    ANTHONY    CROZAT. 

Anthony  Crozat  the  exclusive  privilege,  for  fifteen  years, 
of  trading  in  all  that  immense  territory  which,  with  its 
undefined  limits,  France  claimed  as  her  own  under 
the  name  of  Louisiana.  Among  other  privileges,  were 
those  of  sending,  once  a  year,  a  ship  to  Africa  for  ne- 
groes, and  of  possessing  and  working  all  the  mines  of 
precious  metals  to  be  discovered  in  Louisiana,  provided 
that  one-fourth  of  their  proceeds  should  be  reserved  for 
the  king.  He  also  had  the  privilege  of  owning  for  ever 
all  the  lands  that  he  would  improve  by  cultivation,  all 
the  buildings  he  would  erect,  and  all  the  manufactures 
that  he  might  establish.  His  principal  obligation,  irr 
exchange  for  such  advantages,  was  to  send  every  year 
to  Louisiana,  two  ships'  loads  of  colonists,  and,  after 
nine  years,  to  assume  all  the  expenses  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  colony,  including  those  of  the  garrison 
and  of  its  officers ;  it  being  understood  that,  in  consid- 
eration of  such  a  change,  he  would  have  the  privilege 
of  nominating  the  officers  to  be  appointed  by  the  king. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  annual  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
livres  ($10,000)  was  allowed  to  Crozat  for  the  king's 
share  of  the  expenses  required  by  Louisiana.  It  was 
further  provided  that  the  laws,  ordinances,  customs, 
and  usages  of  the  Prevostship  and  Viscounty  of  Paris 
should  form  the  legislation  of  the  colony.  There  was 
also  to  be  a  government  council,  similar  to  the  one 
established  in  San  Domingo  and  Martinique. 


CONDITIONS  OF  THE  CHARTER.          153 

This  charter  of  concessions  virtually  made  Crozat 
the  supreme  lord  and  master  of  Louisiana.  Thus  Lou- 
isiana was  dealt  with,  as  if  it  had  been  a  royal  farm, 
and  leased  by  Louis  the  XlVth  to  the  highest  bidder. 
It  is  a  mere  business  transaction,  but  which  colors  itself 
with  the  hue  of  romance,  when  it  is  remembered  that 
Louisiana  was  the  farm,  Louis  the  XlVth  the  landlord, 
and  that  Anthony  Crozat  was  the  farmer. 

Anthony  Crozat  was  one  of  those  men  who  dignify 
commerce,  and  recall  to  memory  those  princely  mer- 
chants, of  whom  Genoa,  Venice,  and  Florence  boasted 
of  yore.     Born  a  peasant's  son,  on  the  estate  of  one  of 
the  great  patricians  of  France,  he  was,  when  a  boy, 
remarked  for  the  acuteness  of  his  intellect ;  and  having 
the  good  fortune  of  being  the  foster  brother  of  the  only 
son  of  his  feudal  lord,  he  was  sent  to  school  by  his  noble 
patron,  received  the  first  rudiments  of  education,  and 
at  fifteen  was  placed,  as  clerk,  in  a  commercial  house. 
There,  by  the  protection  of  the  nobleman,  who  never 
ceased  to  evince  the  liveliest  interest  in  his  fate,  and 
particularly  by  the  natural  ascendency  of  his  strong 
genius,  he  rose,  in  the  course  of  twenty  years,  to  be  a 
partner  of  his  old  employer,  married  his  daughter,  and 
shortly  after  that  auspicious  event,  found  himself,  on 
the  death  of  his  father-in-law,  one  of  the  richest  mer- 
chants in  Europe.    He  still  continued  to  be  favored  by 
circumstances,  and   having  had   the  good   fortune  of 

N 


154  HISTORY    OF    CRO/AT. 

loaning  large  sums  of  money  to  the  government  in  cases 
of  emergency,  he  was  rewarded  for  his  services  by  his 
being  ennobled  and  created  Marquis  du  Chatel.  • 

So  far,  Crozat  had  known  but  the  sunny  side  of  life  ; 
but  for  every  man  the  hour  of  trial  must  strike,  sooner 
or  later,  on  the  clock  of  fate,  and  the  length  or  intense- 
ness  of  the  felicity  that  one  has  enjoyed,  is  generally 
counterbalanced  by  a  proportionate  infliction  of  cala- 
mity. Happy  is  he,  perhaps,  whom  adversity  meets  on 
the  threshold  of  existence,  and  accompanies  through 
part  of  his  career.  Then,  the  nerves  of  youth  may 
resist  the  shock,  and  be  even  improved  by  the  struggle. 
The  mind  and  body,  disciplined  by  the  severe  trial 
through  which  they  have  passed,  have  time  to  substitute 
gains  for  losses  in  the  account  book  of  life.  At  any 
rate,  when  the  tribute  of  tears  and  sufferings  is  early 
paid,  the  debtor  may  hope  for  a  clear  and  bright  meri- 
dian ;  and  when  the  sun  of  his  destiny  sinks  down  in 
the  west,  he  has  some  right  to  expect,  if  some  clouds 
should  gather  round  the  setting  orb,  that  it  will  only  be 
to  gladden  the  sight  by  the  gorgeousness  of  their  colors. 
But  if  smiling  fortune,  after  having  rocked  her  favorite 
in  his  cradle,  gives  him  her  uninterrupted  attendance 
until  his  manhood  is  past,  she  is  very  apt  to  desert  him 
on  the  first  cold  approach  of  old  age,  when  he  is  most 
in  need  of  her  support ;  for,  the  stern  decree  that  man 
is  born  to  suffer,  must  be  accomplished  before  the  por- 


DEATH    OF    HIS    WIFE.  155 

tals  of  another  life  are  open ;  and  then,  woe  to  the 
gray-headed  victim,  who,  after  long  days  of  luxurious 
ease,  finds  himself  suddenly  abandoned,  a  martyr  in  the 
arena  of  judgment,  to  the  fangs  and  jaws  of  the  wild 
beasts  of  an  unfeeling  and  scoffing  world !  Woe  to 
>him,  if  his  Christian  faith  is  not  bound  to  his  heart  by 
adamantine  chains,  to  subdue  physical  pain,  to  arm  his 
soul  with  divine  fortitude,  and  grace  his  last  moments 
with  sweet  dignity  and  calm  resignation  ! 

Crozat  was  doomed  to  make  this  sad  experiment. 
The  first  shaft  aimed  at  him  fell  on  his  wife,  whom  he 
lost,  ten  years  after  the  birth  of  his  only  child,  a  daugh- 
ter, now  the  sole  hope  of  his  house.  Intense  was  his 
sorrow,  and  never  to  be  assuaged,  for  no  common 
companion  his  wife  had  been.  Looking  .up  to  him 
with  affectionate  reverence  as  one,  whom  the  laws, 
both  divine  and  human,  had  appointed  as  her  guide, 
she  had  lived  rather  in  him  than  in  herself.  She  had 
been  absorbed  into  her  husband,  and  the  business  of  her 
whole  life  had  been  to  study  and  to  anticipate  his 
wishes  arid  wants.  Endowed  with  all  the  graces  of 
her  sex,  and  with  a  cultivated  intellect  chastened  by 
modesty,  which  hardly  left  any  thing  to  be  desired  for 
its  perfection,  she  rendered  sweeter  the  part  of  minis- 
tering angel  which  she  had  assumed,  to  bless  him  in 
this  world.  With  feminine  art,  she  had  incorporated 
herself  with  his  organization,  ami  gliding  into  the  very 


150  HISTORY    OF    CROZAT. 

essence  of  his  soul,  she  had  become  the  originating 
spring  of  all  his  thoughts  and  sentiments.  It  was 
beautiful  to  see,  how,  entwining  herself  round  his  con- 
ceptions, his  volition  and  actions,  she  had  made  herself 
a  component  part  of  his  individuality,  so  that  she 
really  was  flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone  of  his  bone.  Is4 
it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  when  she  died,  he  felt  that 
the  luminary  which  lighted  up  his  path  had  been  ex- 
tinguished, and  that  a  wheel  had  suddenly  stopped 
within  himself?  From  that  fatal  event,  there  never 
was  a  day  when  the  recollections  of  the  past  did  not 
fill  his  soul  with  anguish. 

Crozat's  only  consolation  was  his  daughter.  The 
never  ceasing  anxiety  with  which  he  watched  over  her, 
until  she  grew  into  womanhood,  would  beggar  all 
description ;  and  even  then  she  remained  a  frail  flower, 
which,  to  be  kept  alive,  required  to  be  fanned  by  the 
gentlest  zephyrs,  and  to  be  softly  watered  from  that 
spring  which  gushes  from  the  deep  well  of  the  heart, 
at  the-  touch  of  true  affection.  She  was  exquisitely 
beautiful,  but  there  was  this  peculiarity  in  her  beauty, 
that  although  her  person  presented  that  voluptuous 
symmetry,  that  rich  fulness  of  form,  and  that  delicate 
roundness  of  outline  which  artists  admire,  yet  soul 
predominated  in  her  so  much  over  matter,  that  she 
looked  rather  like  a  spirit  of  the  air,  than  an  incarna- 
tion of  mortality.  She  produced  the  effect,  of  an 


HIS    DAUGHTER    ANDREA.  157 

unnatural  apparition :  forgetting  the  fascinations  of 
the  flesh,  one  would  gaze  at  her  as  something  not  of 
this  world,  and  feel  for  her  such  love  as  angels  may 
inspire.  She  appeared  to  be  clothed  in  terrestrial 
substance,  merely  because  it  was  necessary  to  that 
earthly  existence  which  she  wore  as  a  garment  not 
intended  for  her,  and  which  had  been  put  on  only  by 
mistake.  She  was  out  of  place  :  there  was  something 
in  her  organization,  which  disqualified  her  for  the 
companionship  of  the  sons  of  Eve :  she  looked  as  if 
she  had  strayed  from  a  holier  sphere.  Those  who 
knew  her  were  impressed  with  an  undefinable  feeling 
that  she  was  a  temporary  loan  made  to  earth  by 
heaven,  and  that  the  slightest  disappointment  of  the 
heart  in  her  nether  career,  would  send  her  instantly  to 
a  fitter  and  more  congenial  abode.  Alas !  there  are 
beings  invested  with  such  exquisite  sensibility  that  the 
vile  clay  which  enters  into  their  composition,  and 
which  may  be  intended  as  a  protecting  texture,  with- 
out which  human  life  would  be  intolerable  for  the 
spirit  within,  imbibing  too  much  of  the  ethereal  essence 
to  which  it  is  allied,  ceases  to  be  a  shield  against  the 
ills  we  are  heirs  to,  in  this  valley  of  miseries.  It  is  a 
mark  set  upon  them !  It  is  a  pledge  that  the  wounded 
soul,  writhing  under  repeated  inflictions,  will  wear  out 
its  frail  tenement,  and  soon  escape  from  its  ordeal. 
Such  was  the  threatened  fate  of  Andrea,  the  dau-'hter 


158  HISTORY    OF    CROZAT. 

of  Crozat.  And  he  knew  it,  the  poor  father !  he  knew 
it,  and  he  trembled !  and  he  lived  in  perpetual  fear : 
and  he  would  clasp  his  hands,  and  in  such  agonies  as 
the  paternal  heart  only  knows,  kneeling  down,  humbling 
himself  in  the'  dust,  he  would  pour  out  prayers  (oh, 
how  eloquent !)  that  the  Almighty,  in  his  infinite  mercy, 
would  spare  his  child ! 

Crozat  had  sedulously  kept  up  the  closest  relations 
with  his  noble  friend  and  patron,  to  whom  there  had 
also  been  born  but  one  heir,  a  son,  the  sole  pillar  of  a 
ducal  house,  connected  with  all  the  imperial  and  royal 
dynasties  of  Europe.  A  short  time  after  his  wife's 
death,  Crozat  had  had  the  misfortune  to  follow  to  the 
grave  the  duke,  his  foster  brother ;  and  his  daughter 
Andrea,  who  was  known  to  lack  at  home  the  tender 
nursing  of  a  mother,  had  been  tendered  the  splendid 
hospitality  of  the  dowager  duchess,  w^here  she  had 
grown  up  in  a  sort  of  sisterly  intimacy  with  the  young 
duke.  There  she  had  conceived,  unknowingly  to 
herself  at  first,  the  most  intense  passion  for  her  youth- 
ful companion,  which,  when  it  revealed  itself  to  her 
dismayed  heart,  was  kept  carefully  locked  up  in  its 
inmost  recesses.  Poor  maiden !  The  longum  bibere 
amorem  was  fatally  realized  with  her,  and  she  could 
not  tear  herself  from  the  allurements  of  the  banquet 
upon  which  she  daily  feasted  her  affections.  Unknown 
her  secret,  she  lived  in  fancied  security,  and,  for  a 


HISTORY    OF    CROZAT.  159 

while,  enjoyed  as  pure  a  happiness  as  may  be  attained 
to — the  happiness  of  dreams ! 

One  day,  a  rumor  arose  that  a  matrimonial  alliance 
was  in  the  way  of  preparation  for  that  lineal  descend- 
ant of  a  princely  race,  for  the  young  duke,  who  was 
the  concealed  idol  of  her  heart.  There  are  emotions 
which  it  would  be  too  much  for  human  endurance  to 
hide  from  a  sympathetic  eye,  much  less  from  parental 
penetration,  and  on  that  day  the  terrible  truth  burst 
upon  Crozat,  and  stunned  him  with  an  unexpected 
blow.  It  was  a  hurricane  of  woes  sweeping  through 
his  heart :  he  felt  as  if  he  and  his  child  were  in  a 
tornado,  out  of  which  to  save  her  was  impossible.  Too 
well  he  knew  his  Andrea,  and  too  well  he  knew  that 
she  would  not  survive  the  withering  of  her  hopes, 
wild  as  they  were !  "  Time !"  exclaimed  he,  as  he 
paced  his  room  with  hurried  steps,  holding  communion 
with  himself,  "  Time,  that  worker  of  great  things,  must 
be  gained !  But  how  ?"  A  sudden  thought  flashed 
through  his  brain !  Thank  God,  he  clutched  the 
remedy  !  Was  it  not  currently  reported  and  believed 
that  the  betrothed  of  the  duke  loved  one,  of  equally 
noble  birth,  but  whose  proffered  hand  had  been  rejected 
by  an  ambitious  father,  merely  because  fortune,  with 
her  golden  gifts,  did  not  back  his  pretensions?  That 
was  enough !  And  Crozat,  on  that  very  day,  had 
sought  and  found  the  despairing  lover.  "Sir!"  said 


100  HISTORY    OF    CROZAT. 

he  to  the  astonished  youth,  "  in  the  civil  wars  which 
desolated  France  during  the  minority  of  Louis  the 
XlVth,  and  which  ruined  your  family,  several  millions 
were  extorted  from  your  father  by  one,  who  then  had 
the  power.  Here  they  are — it  is  a  restitution — ask  no 
name — I  am  a  mere  agent  and  bound  to  secrecy." 
The  strange  tale  was  taken  as  true,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  betrothed  of  the  young  duke  was  led  to  the 
hymenial  altar  by  a  more  successful  rival, 

Crozat  had  beeTT  a  traitor  and  a  liar ! — a  traitor  to 
his  friend  and  benefactor's  son !  But  he  was  a  father ! 
— and  he  saw  his  daughter's  tomb  already  wide  open 
and  gaping  for  the  expected  prey !  And  was  she  not 
to  be  rescued  at  any  cost  ?  And  was  he  to  stand  with 
folded  arms,  and  to  remain  passive,  while,  in  his  sight, 
despair  slowly  chiselled  the  cold  sepulchral  marble 
destined  for  his  child  ?  No  ! — he  saved  her,  and  did 
not  stop  to  inquire  whether  the  means  he  employed 
were  legitimate.  Now,  he  saw  her  smile  again  and 
resume,  as  it  were,  that  current  of  life  which  was  fast 
ebbing  away ! — and  he  was  happy !  And  had  he  not 
a  sufficient  excuse  to  plead  at  that  seat  of  judgment 
which  every  man  has  within  his  breast,  when  the 
shrill  voice  of  conscience  rose  against  him  in  accusa- 
tion, and  said,  "  Thou  hast  done  wrong !  to  save  thyself, 
or  thine,  thou  hast  been  recreant  to  thy  trust — thou 
hast  injured  thy  neighbor,  and  acted  dishonorably  ?" 


HISTORY    OF    CROZAT.  161 

Crozat,  however,  was  not  the  man  to  lay  a  flattering 
unction  to  his  soul.  There  was  in  him  no  false  logic 
of  a  corrupt  mind  to  argue  successfully  against  the 
plain  voice  of  truth :  his  were  not  the  ears  of  the 
wicked,  deaf  to  the  admonitions  of  our  inward  moni- 
tor. However  gently  conscience  might  have  spoken 
her  disapprobation,  he  heard  it,  and  stood  self- con- 
demned. 

He  went  to  his  patron's  widow,  to  the  duchess,  and 
told  her  all — and  prostrating  himself  at  her  feet, 
awaited  her  sentence.  She  raised  him  gently  from  his 
humble  posture,  and  self-collected,  soaring  as  it  were 
above  human  passions,  while  she  riveted  upon  him  the 
steadfast  look  of  her  calm,  blue  eyes,  thus  she  spoke 
with  Juno-like  dignity,  and  with  a  sweet,  musical 
voice,  but  seeming  as  cold  to  the  afflicted  father,  in 
spite  of  its  bland  intonations,  as  the  northern  wind : 
"  Crozat,  this  is  a  strange  and  a  moving  tale.  You 
stand  forgiven,  for  you  have  acted  as  nature  would 
prompt  most  men  to  do,  and  even  if  your  error  had 
been  more  grievous,  your  manly  candor  and  frank  con- 
fession would  redeem  the  guilt.  Therefore,  let  it  pass  ; 
let  your  conscience  be  relieved  from  further  pangs  on 
this  subject.  My  esteem  and  friendship  stand  the 
same  for  you  as  before.  What  grieves  me  to  the 
heart,  is  the  deplorable  situation  of  your  Andrea,  who 
is  mine  also,  and  whom  I  love  like  a  daughter,  although 

8* 


102  HISTORY    OF    CROZAT. 

she  cannot  be  permitted  to  assume  such  a  relation  to 
me  in  the  eye  of  the  world.  She  is  young,  and  it  shall 
be  our  special  care,  by  gentle  means,  to  cure  her  by 
degrees  of  the  wild  passion  which  has  possessed  her 
soul,  poor  child.  As  this,  our  first  conversation  on  this 
painful  topic,  shall  be  the  last,  I  wish  to  express  my 
sentiments  to  you  with  sufficient  fullness,  that  I  may 
be  clearly  understood.  I  wish  you  to  know  that  my 
heart  is  not  inflated  with  vulgar  pride.  I  do  not  think 
that  my  blood  is  different  from  yours  in  its  composi- 
tion, and  is  noble  solely  because  I  descend  from  a  par- 
ticular breed,  and  that  yours  is  vile,  because  the  acci- 
dental circumstance  of  birth  has  placed  you  among 
the  plebeians  and  what  we  call  the  base  and  the  low- 
born. A  peasant's  son,  if  he  be  virtuous  and  great  in 
soul  and  in  mind,  is  more  in  my  estimation  than  a 
king's,  if  an  idiot  or  a  wicked  man.  Thus  far,  I  sup- 
pose we  understand  each  other.  There  is  but  one 
valuable  nobility — that  in  which  hereditary  rank  is 
founded  on  a  long  succession  of  glorious  deeds.  Such 
is  the  case  with  our  house.  It  has  been  an  historical 
one,  trunk  and  branches,  for  much  more  than  twelve 
centuries.  Kings,  emperors  claim  a  kindred  blood 
with  ours.  Our  name  is  indissolubly  bound  with  the 
history  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  the  annals  of  the 
kingdom  of  France,  in  particular,  may  be  said  to  be 
the  records  of  our  house.  We  have  long  ceased  to 


IlhSTOUY    OF    CHOZAT.  103 

count  the  famous  knights,  the  high  constables,  the 
marshals,  generals,  and  other  great  men  who  have 
sprung  from  our  fruitful  race.  This  is  what  I  call  no- 
bility. To  this  present  day,  none  of  that  race  has  ever 
contracted  an  alliance  which  was  not  of  an  illustrious 
and  historical  character.  It  is  a  principle,  nay  more, 
Crozat,  it  is  a  religion  with  us,  and  it  is  too  late  for  us 
to  turn  apostates.  It  is  to  that  creed,  which  we  have 
cherished  from  time  immemorial,  that  we  are  indebted 
for  what  we  are.  If  once  untrue  to  ourselves,  there  is 
an  instinctive  presentiment  which  tells  us  that  we  shall 
be  blasted  with  the  curse  of  heaven.  Right  or  wrong, 
it  is  a  principle,  I  say ;  and  there  is  such  mysterious 
vitality  and  power  in  a  principle,  be  it  what  it  may, 
that  if  strictly  and  systematically  adhered  to  for  ages, 
it  will  work  wonders.  Therefore  the  traditions  of  our 
house  must  stand  unbroken  for  ever,  coev*al  with  its 
existence,  and  remain  imperishable  pyramids  of  our 
faith  in  our  own  worth. 

"  I  know  that  your  daughter,  whom  I  have  raised 
in  my  lap,  and  whose  transcendent  qualities  I  appre- 
ciate as  they  deserve,  would  be  the  best  of  wives,  and 
bless  my  son  with  earthly  bliss.  But,  Crozat,  those  of 
my  race  are  not  born  to  be  happy,  but  to  be  great. 
This  is  the  condition  of  their  existence.  They  do  not 
rn.'trry  for  themselves,  but  for  the  glorification  of  their 
house.  It  is  a  sacred  mission,  and  it  must  be  fulfilled. 


164  HISTORY    OF    CKOZAT. 

Every  animated  thing  in  the  creation  must  follow  the 
bent  of  its  nature.  The  wooing  dove  may  be  satisfied 
with  the  security  of  its  lot  in  the  verdant  foliage  of 
the  forest,  but  the  eagle  must  speed  to  the  sun,  even  if 
he  be  consumed  by  its  rays.  Such  being  the  fate  of 
our  race,  a  hard  one  in  many  respects,  you  see,  my 
dear  Crozat — and  I  say  so  with  deep  regret  at  the  con- 
sequences which  you  anticipate,  not  however  without 
a  hope  that  they  may  be  averted — you  must  clearly  see 
that  an  alliance  between  our  families  is  an  impossi- 
bility. It  would  be  fatal  to  your  daughter,  who  would 
be  scorched  by  ascending,  Phaeton-like,  into  a  sphere 
not  calculated  for  her ;  and  it  would  also  be  fatal  to  my 
son,  who  would  be  disgraced  for  his  being  recreant  to 
his  ancestors  and  to  his  posterity.  You  deserve  infi- 
nite credit  for  having  risen  to  the  summit  where  you 
now  stand.  *  You  have  been  ennobled,  and  you  are  one 
of  the  greatest  merchants  of  the  age,  but  you  are  not 
yet  a  Medici !  You  have  not  forced  your  way,  like 
that  family,  into  the  ranks  of  the  potentates  of  the 
earth.  If,  indeed — but  why  talk  of  such  idle  dreams  ? 
Adieu,  Crozat,  be  comforted — be  of  good  cheer. — 
Things  may  not  be  as  bad  as  you  think  for  your  daugh- 
ter. Her  present  attachment  not  being  encouraged, 
she  may  in  time  form  another  one.  Farewell,  my 
friend,  put  your  faith  in  God :  he  is  the  best  healer  of 
the  wounds  of  the  heart !" 


HISTORY    OF    CROZAT.  165 

Crozat  bowed  low  to  the  duchess,  whose  extended 
hand  he  kissed  reverentially,  and  he  withdrew  from 
the  chilling  frigidity  of  her  august  presence.  Crouch- 
ing under  the  weight  of  his  misfortune,  and  under 
the  consciousness  of  the  invincible  and  immortal 
pride  he  had  to  deal  with,  he  tottered  to  his  solitary 
room,  and  sinking  into  a  large  gothic  chair,  buried  his 
feverish  head  into  his  convulsive  hands.  Hot  tears 
trickled  through  the  contracted  fingers,  and  he  sobbed 
and  groaned  aloud,  when  he  recalled,  one  by  one,  all 
the  words  of  the  duchess,  as  they  slowly  fell  from  her 
lips,  burning  his  soul,  searing  his  brains,  filtering 
through  his  heart  like  distilled  drops  of  liquid  fire. 
Suddenly  he  started  up  with  fierce  energy ;  his  face 
was  lighted  with  dauntless  resolution :  he  ground 
his  teeth,  clinched  his  fist,  as  if  for  a  struggle,  and  shook 
it  in  defiance  of  some  invisible  adversary,  while  he 
moved  *on  with  expanded  chest  and  with  a  frame 
dilating  into  the  majesty  of  some  imaginary  command. 
"  O  Daughter,"  he  exclaimed,  "  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and 
if  necessary,  I  will  accomplish  impossibilities.  Did 
not  the  proud  duchess  say  that  if  I  were  a  Medici ! 
.  .  .  the  ruler  of  provinces! — if  I  had  an  historical 
name  ?  she  did !  and  I  know  that  she  would  keep  her 
word.  Well  then !  ye  powers  of  heaven  or  hell,  that 
helped  the  Medici,  I  bow  to  ye,  and  call  ye  to  my  aid, 
by  the  only  incantation  which  I  know,  the  strong 


106       HISTORY    OF    CROZAT ORIGIN    OF    HIS    CHARTER. 

magic  of  an  energetic  mind.  I  invoke  your  assistance, 
be  the  sacrifice  on  my  part  whatever  it  may : — I  will 
sign  any  bond  ye  please — I  will  set  my  all  on  the  cast 
of  a  die — and  gamble  against  fate.  My  daughter  is 
the  stake,  and  death  to  her  and  to  me  the  forfeit!" 
This  was  a  sinful  ebullition  of  passion — the  only  excuse 
the  paroxysm  of  a  delirious  mind.  But  still  it  was 
impious,  and  his  protecting  angel  averted  his  face  and 
flew  upward.  Alas!  poor  Crozat! 

Hence  the  origin  of  that  charter,  by  which  Louisi- 
ana was  ceded,  as  it  were,  to  Crozat.  He  flattered 
himself  with  the  hope  that,  if  successful  in  his  gigantic 
enterprise,  a  few  years  might  ripen  the  privileges  he 
had  obtained  into  the  concession  of  a  principality, 
which  he  would  form  in  the  New  World,  a  principality 
which,  as  a  great  feudatory  vassal,  he  would  hold  in 
subjection  to  the  crown  of  France.  Then  he  would 
say  to  the  proud  duchess,  "  I  am  a  Medici.  My  name 
outweighs  many  a  haughty  one  in  the  scales  of  history  : 
— my  nobility  rests  not  only  on  title,  but  on  noble 
deeds.  These  were  your  words — I  hold  you  to  them 
— redeem  your  pledge — one  of  your  blood  cannot  be 
false — I  claim  your  son — I  give  him  a  princess  for  his 
bride,  and  domains  ten  times  broader  than  France,  or 
any  kingdom  in  Europe,  for  her  dowry !" 

So  hoped  the  heart  of  the  father — so  schemed  the 
head*  of  the  great  merchant !  What  man  ever  had 


THE    HOPES    OF    OROZAT.  107 

stronger  motives  to  fire  his  genius  ?  What  ambition 
more  sacred  and  more  deserving  of  reward  than  his  ? 
And  yet  none,  save  one,  guessed  at  the  motives  which 
actuated  him !  He  was  taxed  with  being  insatiable  of 
wealth :  people  wondered  at  his  gigantic  avidity. 
Some  there  were,  who  shrugged  their  shoulders,  and 
said  that  he  was  tempting  fate,  that  it  was  time  for 
him  to  be  satisfied  with  what  he  had,  without  exposing 
his  present  wonderful  acquisitions  for  the  uncertainty 
of  a  greater  fortune.  Such  are  the  blind  judgments  of 
the  world !  Crozat  was  blamed  for  being  too  ambi- 
tious, and  envy  railed  at  the  inordinate  avidity  of  the 
rash  adventurer,  when  pity  ought  to  have  wept  over 
the  miseries  of  the  broken-hearted  father.  On  the 
dizzy  eminence  whither  he  had  ascended,  Crozat,  when 
he  looked  round  for  sympathy,  was  met  by  the  basilisk 
stare  of  a  jealous,  cold-blooded  world,  who  stood  by, 
calculating  his  chances  of  success,  and  grinning  in 
anticipation  at  the  wished-for  failure  of  his  defeated 
schemes.  At  such  a  sight,  his  heart  sank  within  his 
breast,  and  elevating  his  hands,  clasped  in  prayer, 
"Angels  and  ministers  of  grace,"  he  said,  "ye  know 
that  it  is  no  ambitious  cravings,  but  the  racked  feelings 
of  a  father,  that  urge  me  to  the  undertaking,  upon 
which  I  call  down  your  blessings.  Be  ye  rny  friends 
and  protectors  in  heaven,  for  Crozat  has  none  on  this 
earth." 


FOURTH  LECTURE. 


FOURTH  LECTURE.  , 

LAMOTHE  CADILLAC,  GOVERNOR  OF  LOUISIANA — SITUATION  OF  THE 
COLONY  IN  1713 — FEUD  BETWEEN  CADILLAC  AND  BIENVILLE — CHA- 
RACTER OF  RlCIIEBOURG FlRST  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE  NATCIIE7, 

DE  L'EPINAY    SUCCEEDS    CADILLAC TlIE    CURATE    DE    LA     VENTE 

EXPEDITION  OF  ST.  DENNIS  TO  MEXICO — His  ADVENTURES — JAL- 
LOT,  TIIE  SURGEON — IN  1717  CROZAT  GIVES  UP  HIS  CHARTER — His 
DEATH. 

WHEN  Crozat  obtained  the  royal  charter,  granting 
him  so  many  commercial  privileges  in  Louisiana,  the 
military  forces  which  were  in  the  colony,  and  which 
constituted  its'  only  protection,  did  not  exceed  two 
companies  of  infantry  of  fifty  men  each.  There  were 
also  seventy-five  Canadians  in  the  pay  of  the  king,  and 
they  were  used  for  every  species  of  service.  The 
balance  of  the  population  hardly  came  up  to  three 
hundred  souls,  and  that  population,  small  as  it  was  and 
almost  imperceptible,  happened  to  be  scattered  over  a 
boundless  territory,  where  they  could  not  communicate 
together  without  innumerable  difficulties,  frightful  dan- 
gers, and  without  delays  which,  in  these  our  days  of 
rapid  locomotion,  can  scarcely  be  sufficiently  appreciat- 
ed. As  to  the  blacks,  who  now  have  risen  to  such 


172  FORTS    CONSTRUCTED. 

importance  in  our  social  polity,  they  did  not  number 
more  than  twenty  heads.  It  is  probable,  that  of  this 
scanty  population,  there  were  not  fifty  persons  in  the 
present  limits  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  the  con- 
trast, which  now  presents  itself  to  the  mind,  affords  a 
rich  treat  to  the  imagination,  and  particularly  to  our 
national  pride,  since  we  were  the  wonder-working 
power. 

The  possession  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  if 
possession  it  can  be  called,  France  had  secured  by  the 
construction  of  five  forts.  They  were  located  at  Mo- 
bile, at  Biloxi,  Ship  Island,  Dauphine  Island,  and  on 
the  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Those  fortifications  were 
of  a  very  humble  nature,  and  their  materials  were 
chiefly  composed  of  stakes,  logs  and  clay.  They  suf- 
ficed, however,  to  intimidate  the  Indians.  Such  were 
the  paltry  results,  after  fifteen  years,  of  the  attempt 
made  by  a  powerful  government  to  colonize  Louisiana ; 
and  now,  one  single  man,  a  private  individual,  was 
daring  enough  to  grapple  and  struggle  with  an  under- 
taking, which,  so  far,  had  proved  abortive  in  the  hands 
of  the  great  Louis  the  XlVth ! 

It  must  be  remembered  that  De  Muys,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  supersede  Bienville,  had  died  in  Havana  in 
1707,  and  that  the  youthful  founder  of  the  colony  had, 
by  that  event,  remained  Governor  ad  interim  of  Loui- 
siana. But  on  the  17th  of  May,  1713,  a  great  change 


ARRIVAL    OF    LAMOTHE    CADILLAC.  173 

had  come  over  the  face  of  things,  and  the  colonists 
stood  on  the  tiptoe  of  expectation,  when  they  were  in- 
formed that  a  ship  had  arrived  with  Lamothe  Cadillac, 
as  Governor,  Duclos  as  Commissary  in  the  place  of 
D'Artaguette,  who  had  returned  to  France,  Lebas  as 
Comptroller,  Dirigoin  and  La  Loire  des  Ursins,  as  the 
agents  of  Crozat  in  the  colony.  Bienville  was  retained 
as  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  it  was  expected  that,  in 
that  subordinate  office,  he  would,  from  his  knowledge 
of  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  province,  be  of  signal  use 
to  his  successor,  and  be  a  willing  instrument,  which  the 
supposed  superior  abilities  of  Lamothe  Cadillac  would 
turn  to  some  goodly  purpose.  This  certainly  was  a 
compliment  paid  to  the  patriotism  of  Bienville,  but 
was  it  not  disregarding  too  much  the  frailties  of  human 
nature  ?  Cheerfully  to  obey,  where  one  formerly  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  issue  the  word  of  command,  is 
not  an  every  day  occurrence,  and  it  is  a  trial  to  which 
politic  heads  ought  not  to  expose  the  virtue  of  man. 

The  principal  instructions  given  by  Crozat  to  La- 
mothe Cadillac  were,  that  he  should  diligently  look 
after  mines,  and  endeavor  to  find  out  an  opening  for  the 
introduction  of  his  goods  and  merchandise  into  the 
Spanish  colonies  of  Mexico,  either  with  the  consent  of 
the  authorities,  or  without  it,  by  smuggling.  If  he 
succeeded  in  these  two  enterprises,  Crozat  calculated 
that  he  would  speedily  obtain  inexhaustible  wealth,  such 


174  HISTORY    OF    CADILLAC. 

wealth  as  would  enable  him  to  throw  a  large  popula- 
tion into  Louisiana,  as  it  were  by  magic,  and  to  realize 
the  fond  dreams  of  his  paternal  heart.  Impatient  of 
delay,  he  had,  in  order  to  stimulate  the  exertions  of 
Lamothe  Cadillac,  secured  to  him  a  considerable  share 
in  the  profits  which  he  hoped  to  realize.  Lamothe  Ca- 
dillac had  fought  with  valor  in  Canada,  and  as  a  reward 
for  his  services,  (so,  at  least,  his  commission  declared,) 
had  been  appointed  by  the  king,  governor  of  Louisiana. 
Had  Crozat  known  the  deficiencies  of  that  officer's  in- 
tellect, he,  no  doubt,  would  have  strongly  remonstrated 
against  such  a  choice. 

Lamothe  Cadillac  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the 
Garonne,  in  the  province  of  Gascony,  in  France.  He 
was  of  an  ancient  family,  which,  for  several  centuries, 
had,  by  some  fatality  or  other,  been  rapidly  sliding  down 
from  the  elevated  position  which  it  had  occupied. 
When  Lamothe  Cadillac  was  ushered  into  life,  the  do- 
mains of  his  ancestors  had,  for  many  past  generations, 
been  reduced  to  a  few  acres  of  land.  That  small 
estate  was  dignified,  however,  with  an  old  dilapidated 
edifice,  which  bore  the  name  of  castle,  although,  at  a 
distance,  to  an  unprejudiced  eye,  it  presented  some  un- 
lucky resemblance  to  a  barn.  A  solitary  tower  dressed, 
as  it  were,  in  a  gown  of  moss  and  ivy,"  raised  its  gray 
head  to  a  height  which  might  have  been  called  respect- 
able, and  which  appeared  to  offer  special  attraction  to 


HISTORY    OF    CADILLAC.  175 

crows,  swallows  and  bats.  Much  to  the  mortification 
of  the  present  owner,  it  had  been  called  by  the  young 
wags  of  the  neighborhood,  "  Cadillac  s  Rookery,"  and 
was  currently  known  under  that  ungenteel  appellation. 
Cadillac  had  received  a  provincial  and  domestic  educa- 
tion, and  had,  to  his  twenty-fifth  year,  moved  in  a  very 
contracted  sphere.  Nay,  it  may  be  said  that  he  had 
almost  lived  in  solitude,  for  he  had  lost  both  his  parents, 
when  hardly  eighteen  summers  had  passed  over  his 
head,  and  he  had  since  kept  company  with  none  but 
the  old  tutor  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  such  classi- 
cal attainments  as  he  had  acquired.  His  mind  being 
as  much  curtailed  in  its  proportions,  as  his  patrimonial 
acres,  his  intellectual  vision  could  not  extend  very  far, 
and  if  Cadillac  was  not  literally  a  dunce,  it  was  well 
known  that  Cadillac's  wits  would  never  run  away 
with  him. 

Whether  it  was  owing  to  this  accidental  organiza- 
tion of  his  brain,  or  not,  certain  it  is  that  one  thing 
afforded  the  most  intense  delight  to  Cadillac  : — it  was, 
that  no  blood  so  refined  as  his  own  ran  in  the  veins  of 
any  other  human  being,  and  that  his  person  was  the 
very  incarnation  of  nobility.  With  such  a  conviction 
rooted  in  his  heart,  it  is  not  astonishing  that  his  tall,  thin, 
and  emaciated  body  should  have  stiffened  itself  into  the 
most  accurate  observation  of  the  perpendicular.  In- 
deed, it  was  exceedingly  pleasant,  and  exhilarating  to 


17G  HISTORY    OF    CADILLAC. 

the  lungs,  to  see  Cadillac,  on  a  Sunday  morning,  strut- 
ting along  in  full  dress,  on  his  way  to  church,  through 
the  meagre  village  attached  to  his  hereditary  domain. 
His  bow  to  the  mayor  and  to  the  curate  was  something 
rare,  an  exquisite  burlesque  of  infinite  majesty,  thawing 
into  infinite  affability.     His  ponderous  wig,  the  curls  of 
which  spread  like  a  peacock's  tail,  seemed  to  be  alive 
with  conscious  pride  at  the  good  luck  it  had  of  cover- 
ing a  head  of  such  importance  to  the  human  race. 
His  eyes,  in  whose  favor  nature  had  been  pleased  to  de- 
viate from  the  oval  into  the  round  shape,  were  pos- 
sessed with  a  stare  of  astonishment,  as  if  they  meant 
to  convey  the  expression  that  the  spirit  within  was  in 
a  trance  of  stupefaction  at  the  astounding  fact  that  the 
being  it  animated  did  not  produce  a  more  startling 
effect  upon  the  world.     The  physiognomy  which  I  am 
endeavoring  to  depict,  was  rendered  more  remarkable 
by  a  stout,  cocked  up,  snub  nose,  which  looked  as  if  it 
had  hurried  back,  in  a  fright,  from  the  lips,  to  squat  in 
rather  too  close  proximity  to  the  eyes,  and  which,  with 
its   dilated   nostrils,   seemed  always  on  the  point   of 
sneezing  at  something  thrusting  itself  between  the  wind 
and  its  nobility.     His  lips  wore  a  mocking  smile,  as  if 
sneering  at  the   strange  circumstance  that  a  Cadillac 
should  be  reduced  to  be  an  obscure,  penniless  individ- 
ual.    But,  if  Cadillac  had  his  weak  points,  it  must  also 
.be  told  that  he  was  not  without  his  strong  ones.   Thus, 


CADILLAC'S  MARRIAGE.  177 

he  had  a  great  deal  of  energy,  bordering,  it  is  true, 
upon  obstinacy ; — he  was  a  rigidly  moral  and  pious 
man ; — and  he  was  too  proud  not  to  be  valiant. 

With  a  mind  so  framed,  was  it  to  be  wondered  at 
that  Cadillac  deemed  it  a  paramount  duty  to  himself 
and  to  his  Maker,  not  to  allow  his  race  to  become  ex- 
tinct ?  Acting  under  a  keen  sense  of  that  duty,  and 
impressed  with  a  belief  that  he  might,  by  a  rich  alli- 
ance, restore  his  house  to  that  ancient  splendor  which 
he  considered  as  its  birthright,  but  of  which  evil 
tongues  said,  that  it  was  indeed  so  truly  ancient,  that 
it  had  long  ceased  to  be  recorded  in  the  memory  of  man, 
he,  one  day,  issued  in  state  and  in  his  gayest  apparel, 
from  his  feudal  tower,  and  for  miles  around,  paid  for- 
mal visits  to  all  the  wealthy  patricians  of  his  neighbor- 
hood. He  was  every  where  received  with  that  high- 
bred courtesy,  which  those  of  that  class  extend  to  all, 
and  particularly  to  such  as  belong  to  their  own  order, 
but  he  was  secretly  voted  a  quiz.  After  a  few  months 
of  ineffectual  efforts,  Cadillac  returned  to  his  pigeon 
hole,  in  the  most  disconsolate  mood  ;  and,  after  a  year's 
repining,  he  was  forced  to  content  himself  with  the 
hand  of  a  poor  spinster,  who  dwelt  in  a  neighboring 
town,  where,  like  Cadillac,  she  lingered  in  all  the 
pride  of  unsullied  descent  and  hereditary  poverty. 
Shortly  after  her  marriage,  the  lady,  who  was  a  distant 
relation  to  the  celebrated  Duke  of  Lauzun,  recommend- 

0 


178  CADILLAC    APPOINTED    CAPTAIN. 

ed  herself  and  her  husband  to  the  patronage  of  that 
nobleman,  who  was  then  one  of  the  brightest  of  that 
galaxy  of  stars  that  adorned  the  court  of  Louis  the 
XlVth.  Her  letter  was  written  in  a  quaint,  fantastic 
style,  and  Lauzun,  who  received  it  on  his  way  to  the 
king's  morning  levee,  showed  it  to  the  monarch,  and 
was  happy  enough,  by  the  drollery  of  his  comments,  to 
force  a  smile  from  those  august  lips.  Availing  himself 
of  that  smile,  Lauzun,  who  was  in  one  of  his  good  fits, 
for  the  kindness  of  his  nature  was  rather  problematical, 
and  the  result  of  accident  rather  than  of  disposition, 
obtained  for  his  poor  connexion  the  appointment  of 
captain  to  one  of  the  companies  of  infantry,  which 
had  been  ordered  to  Canada. 

The  reception  of  this  favor  with  a  congratulatory 
letter  from  Lauzun,  added  stilts  to  Cadillac's  pompos- 
ity, and  his  few  dependents  and  vassals  became  really 
astounded  at  the  sublimity  of  his  attitudes.  On  that 
occasion,  the  increased  grandeur  of  his  habitual  car- 
riage was  but  the  translation  of  the  magnificence  of 
his  cogitations.  He  had  heard  of  the  exploits  of  Cor- 
tez  and  Pizarro,  and  he  came  to  the  logical  conclusion 
in  his  own  mind  that  Canada  would  be  as  glorious  a 
field  as  Peru  or  Mexico,  and  that  he  would  at  least 
rival  the  achievements  of  the  Spanish  heroes.  Fame 
and  wealth  were  at  last  within  his  grasp,  and  the  long 
eclipsed  star  of  the  Cadillacs  would  again  blaze  out 
with  renewed  lustre  ! 


CADILLAC    IN    CANADA.  179 

The  dreams  of  Cadillac  were  soon  put  to  flight  by 
sad  realities,  when  he  landed  in  Canada,  where  hard- 
ships of  every  kind  assailed  him.  The  snows  and 
blasts  of  Siberian  winters,  the  heat  of  summers  equal 
to  those  of  Africa,  endless  marches  and  counter- 
marches after  a  wary  and  perfidious  enemy,  visible 
only  when  he  could  attack  with  tenfold  chances  in 
his  favor,  the  sufferings  of  hunger  and  thirst  which 
were  among  the  ordinary  privations  of  his  every  day 
life,  the  wants  of  civilization  so  keenly  felt  amidst  all 
the  destitution  of  savage  existence,  days  of  bodily  and 
mental  labor,  and  nights  of  anxious  vigil,  hair-breadth 
escapes  on  water  and  on  land,  the  ever-recurring  dan- 
ger of  being  tomahawked  and  scalped,  the  war-whoops 
and  incessant  attacks  of  the  Indians,  the  honorable 
distinctions  of  wounds  and  of  a  broken  constitution  in 
the  service  of  his  country — these  were  the  concomi- 
tants and  the  results  of  Cadillac's  career  in  Canada 
during  twenty  years  !  All  this  Cadillac  had  supported 
with  remarkable  fortitude,  although  not  without  impa- 
tience, wondering  all  the  time  that  something  or  other 
did  not  happen  to  make  him  what  he  thought  nature 
and  his  birth  intended  and  entitled  him  to  be — a  great 
man  ! 

But  twenty  years  had  elapsed,  and  at  their  expira- 
tion, he  found  himself  no  better  than  a  lieutenant- 
colonel.  To  increase  his  vexation,  he  had  no  other 


180  CADILLAC    IN    CANADA. 

issue  by  his  marriage  than  a  daughter,  now  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  thus  he  remained  without  the  pros- 
pect of  having  an  heir  to  continue  his  line,  and  to  bear 
his  noble  name.  The  disappointment  of  his  hopes  in 
this  respect,  was  the  keenest  of  all  his  afflictions ;  he 
was  approaching  the  trying  climacteric  of  fifty-four, 
and  he  was  as  poor  as  when  he  departed  from  the 
banks  of  the  Garonne.  A  lieutenant-colonel  he  was, 
and  would  remain,  in  all  probability.  His  superior 
officer  seemed  to  be  marvellously  tenacious  of  his  post 
and  of  life,  and  would  neither  die  nor  advance  one 
step  beyond  his  grade  :  bullets  spared  him,  and  minis- 
ters never  thought  of  his  promotion.  Thus  it  was 
clear,  from  all  appearances,  that  Cadillac  was  not  in  a 
position  soon  to  become  a  marshal  of  France,  and  that 
Canada  was  not  the  land  where  he  could  acquire  that 
wealth  he  was  so  ambitious  of,  to  enshrine  his  old  gray- 
headed  tower,  as  a  curious  relic  of  the  feudal  power 
of  his  ancestry,  within  the  splendid  architecture  of  a 
new  palace,  and  to  revive  the  glories  of  his  race. 
Hence  he  had  imbibed  the  most  intense  contempt  for 
the  barren  country  where  so  much  of  his  life  had  been 
spent  in  vain,  and  he  would  sneer  at  the  appellation  of 
New  France  given  to  Canada;  he  thought  it  was  a 
disparagement  to  the  beautiful  and  noble  kingdom  of 
which  he  boasted  to  be  a  native,  and  he  frequently 
amused  his  brother  officers  with  his  indignation  on  this 


CADILLAC    IN    CANADA.  181 

subject.  "  This  world  may  revolve  on  its  axis  to  all 
eternity,"  he  would  say,  "  and  Canada  will  no  more  be 
made  to  resemble  France,  than  a  dwarf  will  ever  be 
the  personification  of  a  giant !"  This  was  a  favorite 
phrase  with  which  he  loved  to  close  his  complaints 
against  the  object  of  his  abomination,  whenever  he 
was  betrayed  into  an  expression  of  his  feelings ;  for  of 
late,  he  had  become  silent  and  moody,  and  only  talked, 
when  he  could  not  do  otherwise.  It  was  evident  that 
his  mind  was  wrapped  up  within  itself,  and  absorbed 
in  the  solution  of  some  problem,  or  the  contemplation 
of  a  subject  which  taxed  all  its  powers  of  thought. 
What  could  it  be  ?  But  at  last  it  was  discovered  that 
the  object  of  Cadillac's  abstracted  cogitations,  was  the 
constant  blasting  of  all  his  hopes,  in  spite  of  his 
mighty  efforts  to  realize  them.  So  strange  did  it  ap- 
pear to  him,  that  he  could  come  to  no  other  conclu- 
sion than  that,  if  he  had  not  risen  higher  on  the 
stage  of  life,  it  was  necessarily  because  he  was  spell 
bound. 

Cadillac,  since  his  arrival  in  Canada,  had  kept  up, 
with  the  great  connexion  he  had  acquired  by  his  mar- 
riage, the  Duke  of  Lauzun,  a  regular  correspondence, 
in  which,  to  the  infinite  glee  of  that  nobleman,  he  used 
to  enumerate  his  manifold  mishaps.  Now,  acting  un- 
der the  impression  that  he  was  decidedly  the  victim  of 
fate  or  witchcraft,  he  wrote  to  Lauzun  a  long  letter, 


182  CADILLAC    GOVERNOR    OF    LOUISIANA. 

in  which  he  surpassed  himself  in  his  bombastic  style, 
and  out-heroding  Herod,  poured  out  on  paper,  in  inco- 
herent declamations,  the  vexed  spirit  which  ailed  him, 
and  cut  such  antics  in  black  and  white,  that  Lauzun, 
on  the  perusal  of  this  epistolary  elegy,  laughed  him- 
self into  tears,  and  almost  screamed  with  delight.  It 
happened  at  that  time,  that  the  ministry  was  in  search 
of  a  governor  for  Louisiana,  and  the  mischievous  Lau- 
zun, who  thought  that  the  more  he  exalted  Cadillac, 
the  greater  source  of  merriment  he  prepared  for  him- 
self, had  sufficient  power  to  have  him  appointed  to  that 
office.  This  profligate  nobleman  never  troubled  his 
wits  about  what  would  become  of  Louisiana  under 
such  an  administration.  Provided  he  found  out  a  fit 
theatre,  and  had  it  properly  illuminated,  to  enjoy,  at  his 
ease,  the  buffooneries  of  a  favorite  actor,  what  cared 
he  for  the  rest  ? 

Before  taking  possession  of  his  government,  Cadil- 
lac went  to  France,  to  receive  the  instructions  of  the 
ministry,  and  to  revisit  his  paternal  domain.  His  re- 
turn produced  no  slight  sensation  within  a  radius  of 
forty  miles  round  his  so  long  deserted  hearth.  If  the 
waggish  boys  who  used  to  torment  him  with  their 
pranks  had  grown  into  manhood,  tradition  had  handed 
down  so  much  of  Cadillac's  peculiarities  to  their  suc- 
cessors, that  when  he  appeared  before  them,  it  was  not 
as  a  stranger,  but  rather  as  an  old  acquaintance. 


CADILLAC    VISITS    HIS    BIRTHPLACE.  183 

Dressed  in  the  fashion  which  prevailed  at  the  time  he 
left  his  native  province,  twenty  years  before,  and 
which  at  present  helped  to  set  off  with  more  striking 
effect  the  oddities  of  his  body  and  mind,  he  was,  as 

before,  an  object  of  peculiar  attraction  to  the  mischiev- 

• 

ous  propensities  of  the  juvenility  of  his  neighborhood. 
One  of  them,  still  fresh  from  the  university,  where  he 
had  won  academical  honors,  availing  himself,  in  order 
to  display  the  powers  of  his  muse,  of  Cadillac's  re- 
appearance at  home,  composed  a  ballad  which  he 
called,  "  The  Return  of  the  Iroquois  Chief,"  and  which 
was  a  parody  of  a  celebrated  one,  well  known  as 
"  The  Knight's  Return  from  Palestine."  It  met  with 
great  success,  and  was  sung  more  than  once  under  the 
Gothic  windows  of  Cadillac's  tower.  But  he  listened 
to  the  sarcastic  composition  with  a  smile  of  ineffa- 
ble contempt.  "  Let  them  laugh  at  my  past  misfor- 
tunes," he  would  say  to  himself,  "  the  future  will 
avenge  my  wrongs,  and  my  enemies  will  be  jaundiced 
with  the  bile  of  envy.  I  am  now  governor  of  Louis- 
iana, of  that  favored  land,  of  which  so  many  won- 
ders are  related.  This  is  no  longer  the  frozen  climate 
of  Canada,  but  a  genial  region,  which,  from  its  conti- 
guity, must  be  akin  to  that  of  Mexico,  where  the  hot 
rays  of  the  sun  make  the  the  earth  teem  with  gold, 
diamonds,  and  rubies!"  Working  himself  into  a  par- 
oxysm of  frenzied  excitement,  he  struck  passionately, 


184  CADILLAC'S  FIRST  IMPRESSIONS 

with  the  palm  of  his  hand,  the  wall  of  the  room  he  was 
pacing  to  and  fro,  and  exclaimed,  "  O  venerable  pile, 
which  derision  calls  Cadillac  s  Rookery,  I  will  yet 
make  thee  a  tower  of  strength  and  glory !  I  will  gild 
aach  of  thy  moss-coated  stones,  and  thou  shalt  be  a 
tabernacle  for  men  to  wonder  at  and  to  worship !" 
As  he  spoke,  his  eyes  became  suffused  with  tears,  and 
there  was  so  much  feeling  and  pathos  in  his  action, 
and  in  the  expression  of  his  aspirations,  that,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  not  only  he  momentarily  ceased 
to  be  ridiculous,  but,  to  one  who  had  seen  him  then, 
would  have  appeared  not  destitute  of  a  certain  degree 
of  dignity,  and  perhaps  not  unworthy  of  respectful 
sympathy.  Such  is  the  magic  of  deep  sentiment ! 

When  Cadillac  landed  on  the  bleak  shore  of  Dau- 
phine  or  Massacre  Island,  what  he  saw  was  very  far 
from  answering  his  expectations.  From  the  altitude  of 
flight  to  which  his  imagination  had  risen,  it  is  easy  to 
judge  of  the  rapidity  of  its  precipitate  descent.  The 
shock  received  from  its  sudden  fall  was  such  as  to  pro- 
duce a  distraction  of  the  mind,  bordering  on  absolute 
madness.  As  soon  as  Cadillac  recovered  from  the  be- 
wildered state  of  astonishment  into  which  he  had  been 
thrown,  he  sent  to  the  minister  of  the  marine  depart- 
ment a  description  of  the  country,  of  which  I  shall  only 
give  this  short  abstract :  "  The  wealth  of  Dauphine 
Island,"  said  he,  "  consists  of  a  score  of  fig-trees,  three 


OF    LOUISIANA.  185 

wild  pear-trees,  and  three  apple-trees  of  the  same  na- 
ture, a  dwarfish  plum-tree,  three  feet  high,  with  seven 
bad  looking  plums,  thirty  plants  of  vine,  with  nine 
bunches  of  half-rotten  and  half-dried-up  grapes,  forty 
stands  of  French  melons,  and  some  pumpkins.  This  is 
the  terrestrial  paradise  of  which  we  had  heard  so  much ! 
Nothing  but  fables  and  lies !" 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Lamothe  Cadillac  had 
arrived  on  the  13th  of  May.  He  had  since  been  ex- 
ploring the  country,  and  with  his  usual  sagacity,  he 
passed  this  remarkable  judgment  on  Lower  Louisiana : 
"  This  is  a  very  wretched  country,  good  for  nothing, 
and  incapable  of  producing  either  tobacco,  wheat,  or 
vegetables,  even  as  high  as  Natchez."  It  is  fortunate 
that  from  this  oracular  decision  there  has  been  an  ap- 
peal, and  we  now  know  whether  it  has  been  confirmed 
or  annulled. 

The  1st  of  January,  1714,  had  come  in  due  time, 
and  Cadillac  had  not  allowed  his  unfavorable  opinions 
of  Louisiana  to  depart  with  the  expiring  year,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  dispatch  in  which  he  said  :  *  The 
inhabitants  are  no  better  than  the  country ;  they  are 
the  very  scum  and  refuse  of  Canada,  ruffians,  who  have 
thus  far  cheated  the  gibbet  of  its  due,  vagabonds,  who 
are  without  subordination  to  the  laws,  without  any 
respect  for  religion  or  for  the  government,  graceless 
profligates,  who  are  so  steeped  in  vice  that  they  prefer 

9* 


186  CADILLAC'S  QUARRELS. 

the  Indian  females  to  French  women  !  How  can  I  find 
a  remedy  for  such  evils,  when  his  Majesty  instructs  me 
to  behave  with  extreme  lenity,  and  in  such  a  manner 
as  not  to  provoke  complaints !  But  what  shall  I  say  of 
the  troops,  who  are  without  discipline,  and  scattered 
among  the  Indians,  at  whose  expense  they  subsist  ?" 
Cadillac  went  on  in  this  strain,  in  no  sparing  style,  and 
summed  up  the  whole  with  this  sweeping  declaration : 
"  The  colony  is  not  worth  a  straw  for  the  moment ;  but 
I  shall  endeavor  to  make  something  of  it,  if  God  grants 
me  health." 

God  granted  the  worthy  governor  as  robust  health 
as  he  could  have  wished,  but  without  enabling  him  to 
redeem  his  word,  with  regard  to  bettering  the  condition 
of  the  colony;  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  year  1714, 
Cadillac  found  out  that  his  situation,  as  an  administrator, 
was  far  from  being  an  enviable  one.  He  had  quarrelled 
with  Dirigoin,  one  of  Crozat's  agents,  because,  if  we 
take  his  representations  as  true,  he  was  a  fool ;  and 
with  the  comptroller,  Lebas,  because  he  was  dissipated ; 
with*the  inhabitants,  because  they  were  dissolute  and 
had  hitherto  refused  to  build  a  church,  which  was  a 
thing  not  yet  to  be  found  in  the  whole  colony ;  with 
the  soldiers,  because  they  were  without  discipline ;  with 
the  officers,  and  particularly  with  Bienville,  Boisbriant, 
Chateaugue",  and  SeYigny,  because  they  neglected  to 
apply  for  the  holy  sacrament,  even  at  Easter ;  with  the 


DISSENSIONS    IN    THE    COLONY.  187 

commissary,  Duclos,  because  his  views  were  different 
from  his  own  on  more  than  one  occasion ;  with  Riche- 
bourg,  a  captain  of  dragoons,  who  had  come  with  him 
in  a  ship  of  the  line,  because  he  had  seduced  most  of 
the  girls  who  had  embarked  with  them  for  Louisiana, 
and  who  ought  to  have  been  respected  ;  with  the  girls 
themselves,  because  they  had  suffered  their  virtue  to  be 
seduced,  which  was  the  cause  of  their  remaining  on 
his  hands,  inasmuch  as  every  one  refused  to  marry  them 
on  account  of  their  known  misconduct.  Is  it  astonish- 
ing that,  under  such  untoward  circumstances,  Cadillac's 
displeasure  at  his  situation  should  have  swelled  into 
such  gigantic  proportions  as  to  induce  him  to  allow  his 
gathering  indignation  to  embrace  the  whole  of  America 
within  the  scope  of  his  animadversion?  Is  it  not  to  be 
supposed  that  his  understanding  must  have  been  a  little 
confused  by  his  perplexities,  when  he  wrote  to  the  min- 
istry— "  Believe  me*,  this  whole  continent  is  not  worth 
having,  and  our  colonists  are  so  dissatisfied  that  they 
are  all  disposed  to  run  away?" 

The  feud  between  the  magnates  of  the  land  grew 
every  day  more  fierce,  and  the  colony  presented  the 
aspect  of  two  hostile  camps,  Trojans  and  Greeks,  tug- 
ging in  irreconcilable  enmity.  On  one  side,  there  was 
the  governor,  who  was  the  Agamemnon  of  his  party, 
and  who  was  backed  by  Marignyde  Mandeville,  Uagot, 
Blondel,  Latour,  Villiers,  and  Terriue,  scions  of  noble 


188  DISSENSIONS    IN    THE    COLONY. 

houses,  and  all  of  them  young  and  brilliant  officers,  who 
would  join  in  any  strife  merely  for  the  sake  of  excite- 
ment. The  fanatic  Curate  de  la  Vent,  was  their  Cal- 
chas,  and  stimulated  them  to  the  contest.  On  the  other 
side  stood  Lieutenant-Governor  Bienville,  the  Hector 
of  the  opposition,  with  the  king's  commissary  Duclos, 
Boisbriant,  Chateaugue,  Richebourg,  Du  Tisne",  Se"rigny, 
and  others  of  some  note  or  influence,  who  were  at  least 
fully  a  match  for  their  antagonists.  Thus,  on  this  small 
theatre,  the  human  passions  were  as  keenly  at  work, 
and  there  was  as  hot  a  struggle  for  petty  power,  as  if 
the  stage  for  their  display  had  been  a  more  elevated 
one,  and  the  objects  of  contention  more  exciting  to  am- 
bition. 

From  the  annals  of  the  Dutch  settlements  of  New- 
York,  or  rather  from  the  overflowing  richness  of  his 
own  imagination,  which,  to  be  prolific,  had  only  to  alight 
on  and  to  be  connected  with  a  favorite  subject,  Wash- 
ington Irving  drew  those  humorous  sketches,  which 
first  gave  celebrity  to  his  name.  But  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  Louisiana,  which  has  nothing  to  borrow  from 
the  fields  of  fiction,  there  spring  up  characters  and  inci- 
dents, fraught  with  as  much  originality,  and  tinged  with 
as  much  romance,  as  any  so  felicitously  described  by 
him  in  his  productions,  or  by  other  authors  in  any  work 
of  fancy.  What  writer  could  pretend,  in  his  most 
whimsical  creations,  to  produce  a  being  more  fantasti- 


CADILLAC    NEGLECTS    ITS    INTERESTS.  189 

cal  than  Lamothe  Cadillac  ?  What  powers  of  inven- 
tion could  match  his  style  and  the  sentiments  expressed 
in  his  letters  ?  But  let  us  follow  the  erratic  course  pur- 
sued by  this  eccentric  personage. 

He  had  come  to  Louisiana  to  acquire  sudden  wealth 
by  the  discovery  of  mines,  and  not  to  superintend  and 
foster  the  slow  and  tedious  progress  of  civilization. 
Hence,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that,  on  his  receiv- 
ing, one  day,  positive  orders  to  assist  the  agents 
of  Crozat  in  establishing  trading  settlements  or  posts 
on  the  Wabash  and  on  the  Illinois,  he  got  out  of  humor, 
and  in  a  fit  of  impatience,  had  the  hardihood  to  write 
back  to  the  ministry,  in  these  terms :  "  I  have  seen 
Crozat's  instructions  to  his  agents.  I  thought  they 
issued  from  a  lunatic  asylum,  and  there  appeared  to 
me  to  be  no  more  sense  in  them  than  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse. What !  Is  it  expected  that,  for  any  commercial 
or  profitable  purposes,  boats  will  ever  be  able  to  run  up 
the  Mississippi,  into  the  Wabash,  the  Missouri,  or  the 
Red  River  ?  One  might  as  well  try  to  bite  a  slice  off 
the  moon  !  Not  only  are  those  rivers  as  rapid  as  the 
Rhone,  but  in  their  crooked  course,  they  imitate  to 
perfection  a  snake's  undulations.  Hence,  for  instance, 
on  every  turn  of  the  Mississippi,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  wait  for  a  change  of  wind,  if  wind  could  be  had, 
because  this  river  is  so  lined  up  with  thick  woods,  that 
very  little  wind  has  access  to  its  bed." 


190        CADILLAC    ENDEAVORS    TO    DISCOVER    MINES. 

As  to  the  ministerial  expectations  that  he  should 
devote  most  of  his  time  to  favoring  agricultural  pur- 
suits among  the  colonists,  Cadillac  took  it  in  high  dud- 
geon, that  such  recommendations  should  ever  be  ad- 
dressed to  him,  as  if  he  had  not  something  better  to 
attend  to — the  discovery  of  gold,  diamonds  and  pearls ! 
To  trouble  himself  about  conceding  and  locating  lands, 
was  a  thing  concerning  which  he  never  admitted  the 
possibility  of  his  being  seriously  employed,  and  he 
treated  the  matter  very  lightly  in  one  of  his  dispatches, 
in  which  he  said  to  the  ministry,  "  Give  the  colonists  as 
much  land  as  they  please.  Why  stint  the  measure  ? 
The  lands  are  so  bad  that  there  is  no  necessity  to  care 
for  the  number  of  acres.  A  copious  distribution  of 
them  would  be  cheap  liberality." 

Thus,  agriculture  and  commerce  had  failed  to  en- 
gage the  sympathies  of  Cadillac,  who,  since  the  first 
day  he  landed  in  Louisiana,  had  bent  all  his  energies 
and  all  the  means  at  his  command,  towards  the  disco- 
very of  mines.  He  had  sent  Canadians  in  every  di- 
rection to  explore  for  the  hidden  treasures  of  the 
earth,  but  months  had  elapsed  without  gratifying  the 
cravings  of  Cadillac's  appetite  for  gold.  Some  of  the 
Canadians  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians  : — others 
found  so  much  amusement  in  their  favorite  avocations 
of  fishing  and  hunting,  that  they  forgot  the  duties  im- 
posed upon  them,  and  for  the  discharge  of  which  they 


EMBARRASSMENTS  OP  THE  GOVERNOR.      191 

were  paid : — there  were  more  than  one  who,  having 
gone  so  far  as  the  Illinois  and  the  Missouri,  suddenly  be- 
thought themselves  of  some  love-sick  maid,  some  doting 
mother  or  aged  father,  whom  they  had  left  pining  on 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  instead  of  return- 
ing down  the  Mississippi,  to  give  to  Cadillac  an 
account  of  their  mission,  they  pursued  their  way  up  to 
their  native  villages.  It  must  be  confessed  that  all  were 
little  competent  and  too  ignorant  to  investigate  proper- 
ly the  object  of  their  inquiries.  The  few  who  came 
back  had  but  "  a  beggarly  account  of  empty  boxes  "  to 
lay  before  Cadillac.  But  if  he  had  been  favored  with  a 
romantic  turn  of  mind,  he  would  have  found  some 
indemnification  in  the  recital  of  their  marvellous  ad- 
ventures. 

Cadillac  came  at  last  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was 
in  a  sorry  predicament.  Sancho,  when  assailed  with 
the  cares  of  his  insular  government,  never  felt  the 
tenth  part  of  his  embarrassment.  So  much  so,  that 
Cadillac  deeply  regretted  that  he  could  not  be  for  ever 
asleep ;  because,  when  awake,  he  could  not  but  be 
aware  that  he  had  spent  all  the  funds  he  could  com- 
mand, and  had  no  more  left  to  consecrate  to  his  favor- 
ite scheme.  The  sad  reality  stared  him  in  the  face  : — 
his  purse  was  empty,  and  his  Canadians  were  gone. 
But  when  he  was  asleep,  his  dreams  beggared  the 
wonders  of  the  Arabian  Nights.  Then  Queen  Mab 


192      EMBARRASSMENTS  OF  THE  GOVERNOR. 

would  drive,  four  in  hand,  her  tiny  cobweb  carriage 
through  his  brain :  some  merry  elf  of  her  court  would 
tickle  his  nose  with  a  feather  from  a  humming-bird's 
tail,  and  instantly  Cadillac  would  see  a  thousand  fairy 
miners,  extracting  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  and 
heaping  upon  its  surface  enormous  piles  of  gold  and 
silver,  having  a  fantastic  resemblance  to  those.  Indian 
mounds  which,  in  our  days,  make  such  strong  appeals  to 
our  curiosity.  Heated  by  those  visions,  Cadillac  ad- 
dressed himself  to  Duclos,  the  king's  commissary,  for 
more  funds  to  prosecute  his  researches  after  the  pre- 
cious metals  for  which  he  thirsted.  Duclos  replied  that 
the  treasury  had  been  pumped  dry.  "  Borrow,"  an- 
swered Cadillac.  "  I  cannot,"  observed  Duclos.  "  Well, 
then  !"  said  the  governor  very  pithily,  "  what  is  the  use 
of  your  being  a  financier,  if  "you  cannot  raise  money 
by  borrowing,  and  what  is  the  use  of  my  being  a  gover- 
nor, if  1  have  no  funds  to  carry  on  the  purposes  of  my 
government !" 

Low  did  Cadillac  hang  his  head,  in  spite  of  all  his 
pride,  when  he  found  himself  so  cramped  up  in  his 
operations.  But  it  would  require  a  more  powerful  pen 
than  mine  to  describe  his  indignation,  when  Duclos, 
the  king's  commissary,  requested  him  to  render  his  ac- 
counts for  all  the  funds  which  had  been  put  in  his 
hands,  and  for  all  the  goods  and  trinkets  which  had 
been  delivered  to  him  for  distribution  among  the  In- 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  TROUBLES  INCREASE.         193 

dians.  It  was  long  before  he  could  be  made  to  under- 
stand what  was  expected  from  him,  so  strange  and 
unnatural  to  him  did  such  a  pretension,  as  Cadillac  called 
it,  really  seem  on  the  part  of  the  commissary.  There 
was  to  him  something  stupendous  in  the  idea  that  there 
should  ever  be  the  possibility  of  any  such  event  hap- 
pening, as  that  of  a  commissary  calling  upon  him,  Ca- 
dillac, the  noblest  among  the  noble,  him,  the  governor, 
him,  the  representative  of  the  Lord's  anointed,  to  fur- 
nish his  accounts,  just  in  the  same  way  that  such  a 
call  might  have  been  made  upon  any  ordinary  biped  of 
the  human  species.  Was  not  such  a  pretension  the 
forerunner  of  some  extraordinary  convulsion  of  nature? 
Be  it  as  it  may,  Cadillac  immediately  wrote  to  the 
ministry  to  inform  them  of  this  astounding  fact,  which, 
in  his  opinion,  was  a  demonstration  of  the  wild  notions 
that  had  crept  into  the  colony.  Evidently,  the  com- 
missary was  "  non  compos  mentis  !" 

The  tribulations  of  Cadillac  were  destined  to  pur- 
sue a  progressive  course,  and  he  was  hardly  out  of  one 
difficulty,  when  another  and  still  another  came  in  quick 
succession,  like  the  ghosts  that  haunted  Macbeth.  To 
increase  his  perplexities,  the  troops  refused  to  go  through 
all  the  duties  of  their  regular  service,  on  the  ground 
that  they  had  nothing  to  eat  but  corn,  when  they  were 
entitled  to  wheat  bread.  "  A  deputation  of  twenty  of 
them,"  said  Cadillac,  in  his  communications  to  the  min- 


194  THE    GOVERNOR  S    TROUBLES. 

istry,  "had  the  impudence  to  address  me  on  the  sub- 
ject. I  immediately  sent  the  spokesman  to  prison,  and 
having  convened  the  officers,  I  told  them  that  the 
troops  in  Canada  were  satisfied  with  corn  for  their  food, 
that  those  in  Louisiana  had,  as  I  had  been  informed, 
lived  on  it  three  years,  and  that  I  saw  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  continue.  None  of  the  officers  dis- 
sented from  me,  except  the  commissary,  who  expressed 
a  different  opinion,  which  he  supported  with  the  most 
puerile  reasoning ;  but  I  chid  him  and  gave  him  a  good 
rapping  on  the  knuckles." 

The  spirit  of  discontent  was  not  confined  to  the 
soldiery,  but  had  spread  through  the  minds  of  the  colo- 
nists themselves.  "  They  have  dared  to  meet  without 
my  permission,"  said  he,  in  another  dispatch,  "  and  to 
frame  a  petition  to  demand  that  all  nations  should  be 
permitted  to  trade  freely  with  the  colony,  and  that  the 
inhabitants  should  have  the  right  to  move  out  of  this  pro- 
vince, according  to  their  pleasure.  Freedom  of  trade, 
and  freedom  of  action ! — a  pretty  thing !  What  would 
become  of  Crozat's  privileges  ?  The  colonists  also  insist 
on  Crozat's  monopoly  of  trade  being  confined  to  the 
wholesale  disposition  of  his  goods  and  merchandise. 
They  pretend  that  he  should  in  no  case  be  allowed  to 
retail  his  goods,  and  that  his  gains  should  be  limited  to 
fifty  per  cent  on  the  original  cost.  Their  petition  con- 
tains several  other  demands  equally  absurd.  In  order 


HE    REFUSES    TO    EXPEL    LOOSE    WOMEN.  195 

to  cut  all  these  intrigues  in  the  bud,  I  declared  that  if 
this  petition  was  ever  presented  to  me,  I  would  hang 
the  bearer.  A  certain  fellow,  by  the  name  of  Mira- 
goin,  had  taken  charge  of  this  precious  piece  of  com- 
position, and  had  assumed  the  responsibility  of  its  pre- 
sentation, but  on  his  being  informed  of  my  intentions, 
he  tore  it  to  pieces." 

One  would  have  thought  that  Cadillac  had  supped 
full  of  annoyances,  if  not  of  horrors.  But  another 
cause  of  deep  mortification,  particularly  for  one  so 
pious  and  so  strictly  moral  as  he  was,  had  been  kept  in 
reserve  ;  which  was,  his  finding  himself  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  resisting  the  solicitations  of  his  friend,  the 
Curate  de  la  Vente,  and  of  the  other  missionaries,  who 
insisted  upon  his  expelling  out  of  the  colony,  two  wo- 
men of  bad  character,  that  had  lately  arrived.  "  I 
have  refused  to  do  so,"  said  he,  in  one  of  his  dispatches, 
"  because  if  I  sent  away  all  women  of  loose  habits, 
there  would  be  no  females  left,  and  this  would  not  meet 
the  views  of  the  government.  Besides,  (he  slyly  ob- 
served,) one  of  these  girls  occupies  the .  position  of  a 
servant  in  the  household  of  the  king's  commissary,  who 
will  no  doubt  reclaim  her  from  her  vicious  propensities. 
After  all,  I  think  that  the  members  of  the  clergy  here 
are  perhaps  too  rigid,  and  too  fond  of  exacting  long 
and  repeated  confessions.  A  little  more  lenity  would 
better  suit  the  place  and  time.  Let  me  add,  in  conclu- 


CADILLAC  S    DAUGHTER 


sion,  that  if  you  do  not  check  the  intrigues  of  Bien- 
ville and  of  the  commissary,  who  have  gained  over  to 
their  side  most  of  the  officers  and  of  the  inhabitants, 
Crozat  will  soon  be  obliged  to  abandon  his  enterprise." 

We  see  that  there  was  a  deep  feeling  of  animosity 
between  Cadillac  and  Bienville,  which  threatened  to  be 
of  long  continuance.  But  Cadillac  had  a  daughter, 
and  Bienville  was  a  young  man,  and  one  of  such  as  are 
framed  by  nature  to  win  the  affections  of  the  fair  de- 
scendants of  Mother  Eve.  Whould  not  a  novel-writer 
imagine,  under  such  circumstances,  a  love  story,  either 
to  soothe  the  two  chiefs  into  a  reconciliation,  or  to  fan 
into  more  sparkling  flames  the  slow  burning  fire  of 
their  inextinguishable  hatred  ?  Is  it  not  strange  that 
what  would  certainly  be  devised  to  increase  the  inter- 
est of  a  dramatic  plot,  did  actually  turn  out  to  be  an 
historical  occurrence?  But  what  fact  or  transaction, 
commonplace  as  it  would  appear  any  where  else  ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  run  of  things,  does  not,  when 
connected  with  Louisiana,  assume  a  romantic  form 
and  shape  ? 

Thus  Cadillac's  daughter  did  really  fall  in  love  with 
Bienville.  But  although  her  eyes  spoke  plainly  the 
sentiment  of  her  heart,  Bienville  did  not  seem  to  be 
conscious  of  his  good  fortune,  and  kept  himself  wrapped 
up  in  respectful  blindness.  The  lady's  love,  however, 
made  itself  so  apparent,  that  it  at  last  flashed  upon 


FALLS    IN    LOVE    WITH    BIENVILLE.  197 

Cadillac's  mind.  This  was  indeed  a  discovery  !  How 
he  did  wince  at  the  idea  that  one  whom  he  looked 
upon  as  so  inferior  to  himself  in  birth  and  rank,  and 
particularly  that  a  Canadian  should  have  won  the 
heart  of  his  daughter !  Vehemently  and  long  did  he 
remonstrate  with  his  progeny  on  the  unnatural  passion 
which  she  had  conceived ;  but  the  love-sick  maid 
thought  it  perfectly  natural,  and  showed  a  pertinacity 
which  greatly  shocked  her  equally  obstinate  parent. 
Nay,  she  did  what  others  had  done  before  her,  and  be- 
came so  pale  and  emaciated  that  she  frightened  her  fa- 
ther's opposition  into  an  acquiescence  with  her  wishes. 
So  much  so,  that  Cadillac  brought  himself,  at  last,  to 
think  that  this  match  would  not  be  so  disproportionate 
as  he  had  conceived  it  at  first.  Bienville,  after  all,  was 
a  gentleman  by  birth,  he  was  the  founder  of  a  colony, 
and  had  been  a  governor! — That  was  something  to 
begin  with,  and  he  might,  in  the  course  of  time,  rise  to 
an  eminence  which  would  show  him  worthy  of  an  alli- 
ance with  the  illustrious  Cadillac  family.  Besides,  Ca- 
dillac was  getting  old,  and  had  so  far  had  a  poor  chance 
of  acquiring  the  wealth  he  had  been  in  quest  of  so 
long.  If  he  died,  what  would  become  of  his  daughter  ? 
These  reflections  settled  the  question,  and  Cadillac 
said  to  himself,  "  Bienville  shall  be  my  son-in-law." 
Never  did  he,  for  one  single  moment,  dream  of  any 
obstacle.  Nothing  remained  but  to  encourage  Bien- 


BIENV1LLE    DECLINES    MARRYING    HER. 

ville's  fancied  timidity,  and  to  lift  up  the  curtain  which 
concealed  from  him  the  bliss  awaiting  his  unconscious 
innocence. 

One  morning,  Bienville,  much  to  his  astonishment, 
received  a  friendly  invitation  to  the  governor's  closet. 
There,  the  great  man  proffered  to  his  subordinate  the 
olive  branch  of  reconciliatian,  and  by  slow  degrees, 
gave  him  to  understand  that  the  god  Hymen  might 
seal  the  bond  of  their  amity.  Bienville  received  this 
communication  with  low  and  reverential  obeisance. 
Much  delighted  did  he  show  himself  at  this  offer  of 
reconciliation,  and  much  honored  with  the  prospect, 
however  distant,  of  an  alliance  so  far  beyond  his  hum- 
ble aspirations ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  plainly  inti- 
mated to  Cadillac  his  firm  determination,  for  reasons 
best  known  to  himself,  for  ever  to  undergo  the  mortifi- 
cations of  celibacy !  So  unexpected  this  answer  was, 
that  Cadillac  reeled  in  his  seat,  as  if  he  had  been 
stunned  by  a  sudden  blow.  There  he  stood  in  a 
trance,  with  his  mouth  gaping  wide,  with  his  eyes 
starting  from  their  sockets,  and  with  dilating  nostrils, 
while  Bienville  and  the  very  walls,  and  every  thing 
that  was  in  the  room,  seemed  to  spin  and  whirl  madly 
around  him,  with  electric  rapidity.  Now,  indeed,  he 
had  known  the  worst,  fate  had  entered  the  lists,  and 
Birnam  wood  had  come  to  Dunsinane !  What !  his 
daughter,  a  Cadillac,  to  be  refused  by  a  Canadian  ad- 


BIENVILLE    ORDERED    TO    PUNISH    THE    NATCHEZ.       199 

venturer !  No  doubt  a  screw  had  broken  loose  in  the 
machinery  of  the  universe,  and  our  whole  world  was 
to  be  flung  back  into  the  womb  of  old  chaos  again  ! 
Before  Cadillac  had  recovered  from  this  paroxysm, 
Bienville  had  made  his  exit,  and  had  gone  to  tell  the 
anecdote  to  some  confidential  friends.  The  fact  which 
I  have  related,  is  thus  briefly  mentioned  by  Bienville 
in  one  of  his  dispatches  :  "  I  can  assure  your  excellency 
that  the  cause  of  Cadillac's  enmity  to  me,  is  my  having 
refused  to  marry  his  daughter." 

Bienville  did  not  wait  long  to  receive  a  signal  proof 
of  Cadillac's  vindictive  spirit,  and  he  anticipated  a  mani- 
festation of  it,  when  summoned  a  second  time  to  ap- 
pear before  his  chief.  Nor  was  he  deceived  ;  and 
when  he  was  ushered  into  Cadillac's  presence,  that 
dignitary's  countenance,  which  looked  more  than 
usually  solemn  and  stern,  indicated  that  he  had  ma- 
tured his  revenge  for  the  insult  he  had  undergone. 
"  Sir,"  said  he  to  Bienville,  "  I  have  received  secret 
information  that  four  Canadians,  on  their  way  to  Illi- 
nois, have  been  massacred  by  the  Natchez.  You  must 
punish  the  murderers,  and  build  a  fort  on  the  territory 
of  that  perfidious  nation,  to  keep  it  in  check.  Take 
Richebourg's  company  of  thirty-four  men,  fifteen 
sailors  to  man  your  boats,  and  proceed  to  execute  my 
commands."  "What!"  exclaimed  Bienville,  "  do  you 
really  intend  to  send  me  with  thirty-four  men  to  en- 


200       BIENVILLE    ORDERED    TO    PUNISH    THE    NATCHEZ. 

counter  a  hostile  tribe  that  numbers  eight  hundred 
warriors  !"  "  A  truce  to  your  observations,"  continued 
Cadillac,  with  a  bitter  smile,  "  to  hear  must  be  to  obey. 
I  cannot  dispose  of  a  greater  force.  I  have  myself 
good  grounds  to  expect  being  attacked  by  the  neigh- 
boring nations,  who,  as  I  am  informed,  have  entered 
into  a  conspiracy  against  us.  Yet  the  offence  com- 
mitted by  the  Natchez  must  be  instantly  requited,  or 
they  would  be  emboldened  into  the  perpetration  of 
worse  outrages.  Go,  then,  with  such  means  as  I  can 
give  ;  in  case  of  success,  your  merit  will  be  greater, 
but  if  you  should  meet  with  any  reverse,  you  will  be 
at  no  loss  for  an  excuse,  and  all  the  responsibility  shall 
be  mine.  Besides,  you  and  Richebourg  have  such  tal- 
ents and  courage  as  will  easily  extricate  you  out  of 
any  difficulty.  You  are  a  very  Hercules,  and  he  is  a 
perfect  Theseus,  in  licentious  propensities,  at  least. 
What  is  the  mission  I  send  you  upon,  compared  with 
the  twelve  labors  of  the  mythological  hero,  who,  like 
you  on  this  occasion,  was  sent  forth  to  redress  wrongs 
and  punish  crimes !"  To  the  studied  sarcasm  of  this 
set  speech,  Bienville  made  no  answer.  In  those  days 
of  adventurous  and  almost  mad  exploits  in  America, 
in  an  age  when  the  disciplinarian  rules  of  hierarchy 
commanded  such  respect  and  obedience,  none,  without  - 
disgrace,  could  have  questioned  the  word  of  his  supe- 
rior, when  that  word  was  to  brave  danger,  however 


CHARACTER    OF    RICHEBOURG.  201 

foolish  and  reckless  this  exercise  of  authority  might 
be.  Moreover,  Bienville  saw  that  his  ruin  had  been 
deliberately  planned,  and  that  remonstrance  was  use- 
less. Therefore,  signifying  mute  assent  to  Cadilrac's 
wishes,  he  withdrew  to  betake  himself  to  the  execu- 
tion of  the  orders  which  he  had  received,  and  to  ad- 
vise with  Richebourg  on  the  best  means  of  defeating 
Cadillac's  malicious  designs. 

Richebourg  was  a  brave  officer,  full  of  intelligence 
and  of  cool  daring,  whose  career  in  Europe,  as  a  mili- 
tary man,  had  been  interrupted  by  several  duels,  which 
at  last  had  forced  him  to  leave  his  country.  He  was 
so  amiable,  so  obliging,  so  exceedingly  conciliatory, 
that  it  was  difficult  for  one  who  did  not  know  a  cer- 
tain eccentric  peculiarity  of  his  mind,  to  understand 
how  he  had  come  to  have  so  many  quarrels.  Who 
more  gifted  than  he  with  suavity  of  manners  and  the 
art  of  pleasing  ?  He  never  was  fretted  by  contradic- 
tion, and  ever  smiled  at  opposition.  Popular  among 
men,  a  favorite  with  women,  he  never  allowed  words 
of  blame  to  fall  from  his  lips,  but  on  the  contrary  was 
remarkable  for  the  good  nature  of  his  remarks  on  all 
occasions  except  one.  How  could  this  milk  of  hu- 
man kindness,  which  was  the  dominant  element  of  his 
disposition,  be  suddenly  soured  into  offensive  acidity, 
or  turned  into  gall  V  It  was  passing  strange !  But 
it  was  nevertheless  true,  that,  for  some  cause  which 

10 


202  CHARACTER    OF    RICHEBOURG. 

he  never  explained,  he  had  conceived  the  most  inveter- 
ate hatred  for  all  that  smacked  of  philanthropy.    There 
suddenly  sprung  up  in  his  heart  a  sort  of  diseased 
ave%ion  for  the  man,  who,  in  his  presence,  either  went 
by  the  name  of  philanthropist,  or  expressed  sentiments 
which  gave  him  a  claim  to  that  character.     Riche- 
bourg,  on  such  occasions,  would  listen  with  exemplary 
composure,  and,  treasuring  up  in  his  memory  every 
philanthropic  declaration  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the 
speaker,  he  would,  as  soon  as  he  found  the  opportunity, 
put  him  to  the  test,  as  to  whether  his  practice  corres- 
ponded with  his  theory.     Alas !  few  stood  the  test,  and 
then  Richebourg  was  not  sparing  of  the  words,  hum- 
bug, impostor,  and  hypocrite.     What  was  the  conse- 
quence ?   A  quarrel ;  and  in  variably  the  philanthropist 
was  run  through.     On  this  inexplicable  whim,  on  this 
Quixotic  tilting  with  all  pretenders  to  philanthropy, 
Richebourg's    friends     frequently    remonstrated,   but 
found  him  intractable.     No  answer  would  be  given  to 
their  observations,  but  he  kept  steadily  on  the  same 
course  of  action.     At  last  it  became  evident  to  them, 
that  it  was  an  incurable  mania,  a  crotchet  which  had 
got  into  his  brain  and  was  incapable  of  eradication. 
With  this  imperfection  they  put  up  with  good  humor, 
on  account  of  his  many  noble  qualities,  and  he  became 
generally  known  and  designated  as  the  philanthropist 
hater.      His  companions   in  arms,  who  loved   him— 


CHARACTER    OF    RICHEBOURG.  203 

although  with  some  of  them  he  had  actually  fought 
because,  either  in  earnest  or  in  jest,  they  had  hoisted 
the  red  flag  that  was  sure  to  rouse  the  bull — had,  in  a 
joking  manner,  convened  one  day  all  the  officers  and 
inhabitants  of  Mobile  and  Massacre  Island,  and  had 
passed,  with  mock  gravity,  a  resolution,  which  was 
however  seriously  adhered  to,  and  in  which  they  de- 
clared that,  for  the  future,  no  one  would  allow  himself, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  be  a  philanthropist 
within  a  radius  of  three  miles  of  Richebourg.  This 
secured  peace ;  but  woe  to  the  imprudent  or  unin- 
formed stranger  who  trespassed  on  that  sacred  ground, 
with  the  slightest  visible  sign  of  the  heresy  which  the 
fanatic  Richebourg  held  in  utter  abomination ! 

Such  was  the  officer  who  was  to  share  with  Bien- 
ville  the  dangers  of  the  expedition,  which  was  subse- 
quently known  in  the  annals  of  Louisiana,  as  the  first 
Natchez  war. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  17 1C,  Bienville,  with  the  small 
force  which  had  been  allotted  to  him,  encamped  on  an 
island,  situated  in  the  Mississippi,  opposite  the  village 
of  the  Tunicas,  at  the  distance  of  about  eighteen  leagues 
from  the  Natchez.  He  immediately  sent  a  Tunica  to 
convey  to  the  Natchez  the  intelligence  that  he  was 
coming  to  establish  a  factory  among  them,  to  trade;  in 
furs,  and  to  supply  them,  in  exchange,  with  all  the  Eu- 
ropean merchandise  they  might  want.  Bienville  had 


204  BIENVILLE'S  INTERVIEW 

been  informed  that  the  Natchez  believed  that  the  late 
murders  they  had  committed  on  the  persons  of  some 
French  traders,  had  not  been  discovered,  and  he  resolved 
to  avail  himself  of  this  circumstance  to  accomplish  his 
purposes  without  the  risk  of  a  collision.  He  affected, 
therefore,  to  have  come  on  the  most  friendly  errand, 
and  gave  out  that  he  had  encamped  on  the  island  merely 
to  afford  rest  to  his  men,  and  to  minister  to  the  wants 
of  some  that  were  sick.  He  nevertheless  took  the  pre- 
caution to  have  an  intrenchment  made  with  stakes  or 
posts,  within  which  he  erected  three  log-houses.  One 
he  intended  as  a  storehouse  for  his  provisions  and  am- 
munition, the  other  as  a  guard-house,  and  the  third  for 
a  prison. 

On  the  27th,  three  Natchez  came,  under  the  osten- 
sible purpose  of  complimenting  Bienville,  on  the  part  of 
their  tribe,  but  in  reality  to  act  as  spies,  and  they  ten- 
dered to  him  the  calumet,  that  mystic  pipe  which  the 
Indians  use  for  fumigation,  as  the  ensign  of  peace. 
Bienville  refused  to  smoke  with  them,  and  pretended 
to  consider  himself  as  not  treated  with  the  respect  to 
which  he  was  entitled,  because  their  chiefs  had  not 
come  in  person,  to  greet  him,  the  chief  of  the  French. 
"  I  see,"  said  he,  "  that  your  people  are  not  pleased  with 
the  idea  of  my  forming  a  settlement  on  their  territory, 
for  trading  with  them.  Otherwise  they  would  have 
expressed  their  satisfaction  in  a  more  becoming  man- 


WITH    THE    NATCHEZ    EMISSARIES.  205 

ner.  Be  it  so.  If  the  Natchez  are  so  thankless  for 
what  I  meant  to  be  a  favor,  I  will  alter  my  determina- 
tion, and  give  the  preference  to  the  Tunicas,  who  have 
always  shown  themselves  such  great  friends  to  the 
French." 

After  this  speech,  Bienville  ordered  the  three  envoys 
to  be  well  feasted  and  treated  with  kindness.  The 
next  day  they  returned  to  their  villages,  with  a  French- 
man sent  by  Bienville,  and  whose  mission  was  to  ad- 
dress a  formal  invitation  to  the  Natchez  chiefs  to  a 
conference  on  the  Tunicas  Island.  On  this  occasion, 
the  Natchez  felt  greatly  embarrassed,  and  many  con- 
sultations were  had  on  the  best  course  to  be  pursued. 
Some  were  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  imprudent  for 
their  chiefs  to  put  themselves  in  the  power  of  the  French, 
who  might  have  received  information  of  what  had  lately 
occurred,  and  who  might  have  come,  under  the  garb 
of  peace,  to  entrap  their  great  men  and  wreak  ven- 
geance upon  them.  Others  maintained  that,  from  the 
circumstance  of  the  French  having  come  in  such  small 
number,  it  was  evident  that  they  were  ignorant  of  the 
death  of  their  countrymen,  and  did  not  intend  to  act 
as  foes.  "  That  inference,"  they  said,  "was  confirmed 
by  the  information  which  had  been  carefully  collected 
by  their  spies.  They  had  no  pretext  to  treat  the  French 
with  indignity,  and  therefore  it  was  proper  for  the  chiefs 
of  their  tribe  to  go  to  meet  and  escort  to  their  villages 


206  THE    CHIEFS    OP    THE    NATCHEZ 

the  wise  and  valiant  pale-faced  chief,  who  had  already 
visited  them  on  preceding  occasions.  A  different  course 
might  excite  suspicion,  and  investigation  might  lead  to 
the  discovery  of  what  it  was  desirable  to  conceal.  At 
any  rate,  the  chiefs,  by  refusing  to  accept  Bienville's 
invitation,  would  certainly  incur  his  displeasure,  and  he 
might,  by  forming  a  trading  establishment  at  the  Tuni- 
cas, enrich  that  rival  nation,  to  the  detriment  of  the 
Natchez."  These  arguments  prevailed,  and  in  an  evil 
hour  for  the  Indian  chiefs,  their  visit  to  Bienville's  camp 
was  resolved  on. 

On  the  very  day  that  Bienville  had  dismissed  the 
three  Indian  envoys,  he  had  dispatched  one  of  his  most 
skilful  Canadian  boatmen,  to  ascend  the  river,  with  the 
utmost  secrecy,  during  the  night,  and  proceeding  to  a 
certain  distance  beyond  and  above  the  villages  of  the 
Natchez,  to  give  notice  to  the  French,  who  might  be 
coming  down  the  river,  of  the  danger  that  threatened 
them  from  the  Natchez.  That  man  was  provided  with 
a  score  of  parchment  rolls,  which  he  was  to  append  to 
trees  in  places  where  they  were  likely  to  meet  the  eyes 
of  those  descending  the  Mississippi,  and  which  bore  this 
inscription  :  "  The  Natchez  have  declared  war  against 
the  French,  and  M.  de  Bienville  is  encamped  at  the 
Tunicas." 

On  the  8th  of  May,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
the  Indian  chiefs  were  seen  coming,  with  great  state,  in 


VISIT    BIENVILLE.  207 

four  pirogues.  The  chiefs  were  seated  under  parasols, 
and  were  accompanied  by  twelve  men,  swimming.  At 
that  sight,  Bienville  ordered  half  of  his  men  to  keep 
themselves  well  armed  and  concealed  in  the  guard- 
house, but  ready  for  sudden  action.  The  other  half  he 
instructed  to  appear  without  any  weapons,  to  assist  the 
Indians  in  landing,  and  to  take  charge  of  all  their  war 
apparel,  as  it  were  to  relieve  them  from  an  encumbrance, 
and  under  the  pretext  that  it  would  be  improper  to  go 
in  such  a  guise  to  the  awaiting  feast  and  carousal.  He 
further  commanded  that  eight  of  the  principal  chiefs, 
whom  he  named,  should  be  introduced  into  his  tent, 
and  the  rest  be  kept  outside  until  his  pleasure  was  made 
known.  All  this  was  carried  into  execution  without 
the  slightest  difficulty.  The  chiefs  entered  the  tent, 
singing  and  dancing,  and  presented  the  calumet  to  Bien- 
ville. But  he  waved  it  off  with  contempt,  and  sternly 
told  them  that,  before  drawing  one  whiff  from  the 
smoking  pipe,  he  desired  to  know  what  they  had  to  say, 
and  that  he  was  willing  to  listen  to  their  harangue.  At 
this  unexpected  treatment,  the  chiefs  were  highly  dis- 
concerted :  they  went  out  of  the  tent  in  dismay,  and 
seemed,  with  great  ceremony,  to  be  offering  their  calu- 
met to  the  sun.  Their  great  priest,  with  extended  arms, 
made  a  solemn  appeal  to  that  planet,  supplicating  the 
god  to  pour  his  rays  into  the  heart  of  the  pale-faced 
chief,  to  dispel  the  clouds  which  had  there  accumulated, 


208  BIENVILLE    ARRESTS    THE 

and  had  prevented  him  from  seeing  his  way  and  doing 
justice  to  the  feelings  of  his  red  friends.  After  all  this 
religious  display,  they  returned  to  the  tent,  and  again 
tendered  their  calumet  to  Bienville,  who,  tired  of  all 
these  proceedings,  thought  proper  at  once  to  take  the 
bull  by  the  horns  and  to  come  out  with  his  charges. 
"  Before  I  receive  your  token  of  amity,"  said  he  ab- 
ruptly, "  and  pledge  my  faith  in  return,  tell  me  what 
satisfaction  you  offer  for  the  death  of  the  Frenchmen 
you  have  murdered."  The  Indians,  who  had  really 
thought  that  Bienville  knew  nothing  of  that  crime,  ap- 
peared to  be  struck  aghast  by  this  direct  and  sudden 
apostrophe  :  they  hung  down  their  heads  and  answered 
not.  "  Let  them  be  carried  to  the  prison  prepared  for 
them,"  exclaimed  Bienville  impatiently,  "  and  let  them 
be  secured  with  chains,  stocks,  and  fetters." 

On  this  demonstration  of  hostility,  out  came  the  In- 
dians with  their  death-songs,  which,  much  to  the  an- 
noyance of  the  French,  they  kept  repeating  the  whole 
day  : — they  refused  all  food,  and  appeared  determined 
to  meet  their  expected  doom  with  the  dauntless  energy 
so  common  in  that  raoe  of  men.  Towards  evening, 
Bienville  sent  for  the  great  chief,  called  "  The  Great 
Sun,"  and  for  two  of  his  brothers,  whose  names  were, 
"  The  Stung  Serpent  "  and  "  The  Little  Sun."  They 
were  the  three  most  influential  rulers  of  the  nation. 
Bienville  thus  addressed  them :  "  I  know  that  it  was 


NATCHEZ    CHIEFS.  209 

not  by  your  order,  or  with  your  consent,  that  the 
French,  whose  death  I  come  to  avenge,  have  been 
murdered.  Therefore,  your  lives  are  safe,  but  I  want 
the  heads  of  the -murderers,  and  of  the  chiefs  who  or- 
dered or  sanctioned  the  deed.  I  will  not  be  satisfied 
with  their  scalps  : — I  wish  for  the  very  heads,  in  order 
that  I  may  be  sure  that  deceit  has  not  been  practised. 
This  whole  night  I  give  you  for  consultation  on  the 
best  mode  of  affording  me  satisfaction.  If  you  refuse, 
woe  to  your  tribe  !  You  know  the  influence  which  I 
have  over  all  the  Indian  nations  of  this  country.  They 
respect,  love  and  trust  me,  because  from  the  day,  sev- 
enteen summers  ago,  when  I  appeared  among  them,  to 
the  present  hour,  I  have  always  been  just  and  upright. 
You  know  that  if  I  raise  my  little  finger  against  you, 
and  give  one  single  war-whoop,  the  father  of  rivers 
will  hear,  and  will  carry  it,  up  and  down  stream,  to  all 
his  tributaries.  The  woods  themselves  will  prick  up 
their  leafy  ears,  from  the  big  salt  lake,  south,  to  the 
fresh  water  lakes  at  the  north,  and  raising  their  mighty 
voice,  as  when  struggling  with  the  hurricane,  they  will 
summon  from  the  *four  quarters  of  the  hori/on,  the 
children  of  the  forests,  who  will  crush  you  with  their 
united  and  overwhelming  powers. 

"  You  know  that  I  do  not  boast,  and  that  those  red 
allies  will  gladly  march  against  you,  and  destroy  the 
eight  beautiful  villages  of  which  you  arc  so  proud, 

10* 


210  SPEECH    OF    BIENVILLE 

without  my  risking  the  life  of  one  single  Frenchman. 
Do  you  not  remember  that,  in  1704,  the  Tchioumaqui 
killed  a  missionary  and  three  other  Frenchmen  ?  They 
refused  to  deliver  the  murderers  to-  me, — my  wrath 
was  kindled,  and  I  said  to  the  neighboring  Indian  na- 
tions :  '  Bienville  hates  the  Tchioumaqui,  and  he  who 
kills  a  Tchioumaqui,  is  Bienville's  friend.'  When  I 
passed  this  sentence  upon  them,  you  know  that  their 
tribe  was  composed  of  three  hundred  families.  A  few 
months  elapsed,  and  they  were  reduced  to  eighty !  they 
sued  for  peace  at  last,  yielded  to  my  demands,  and  it 
was  only  then  that  the  tomahawk,  the  arrow  and  the 
rifle  ceased  to  drink  their  blood.  Justice  was  satisfied  : 
— and  has  Bienville's  justice  a  smaller  foot  and  a 
slower  gait  when  it  stalks  abroad  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
white  man  who  has  wronged  the  red  man  ?  No  !  In 
1702,  two  Pascagoulas  were  killed  by  a  Frenchman. 
Blood  for  blood,  I  said,  and  the  guilty  one,  although  he 
was  one  of  my  people,  no  longer  lived.  Thus,  what  I 
have  exacted  from  the  Indians,  I  have  rendered  unto 
them.  Thus  have  I  behaved,  and  thus  have  I  deserved 
the  reputation  which  I  enjoy  in  the  wigwams  of  the 
red  men,  because  I  never  deviated  from  the  straight 
path  of  honesty.  Hence  I  am  called  by  them  the 
arrow  of  uprightness  and  the  tomahawk  of  justice. 

"  Measure  for  measure  ! — this  is  my  rule.     When 
the    Indians   have  invoked   my   arbitration   between 


TO    THE    CHIEFS.  211 

themselves,  they  have  been  invariably  subject  to  this 
same  rule.  Thus,  in  1703,  two  Taouachas  having  killed 
a  Chickasaw,  I  obliged  their  chiefs  to  put  them  to  death. 
Blood  will  have  blood.  When  the  Choctaws  murdered 
two  Chactioumans  in  1715,  I  said,  tooth  for  tooth,  lives 
for  lives,  and  the  satisfaction  was  granted.  In  1707, 
the  Mobilians,  by  my  order,  carried  to  the  Taouachas, 
the  head  of  one  of  their  tribe  in  expiation  of  an  of- 
fence of  a  similar  nature  ;  and  in  1709,  the  Pascagou- 
las  having  assassinated  a  Mobilian, '  an  eye  for  an  eye,' 
was  my  award,  and  he  who  was  found  guilty,  forfeited 
his  life.  The  Indians  have  always  recognized  the 
equity  of  this  law,  and  have  complied  with  it,  not  only 
between  themselves,  but  between  them  and  the  French. 
In  1703,  the  Coiras  made  no  difficulty  to  put  to  death 
four  of  their  warriors,  who  had  murdered  a  missionary 
and  two  other  Frenchmen.  I  could  quote  many  other 
instances, — but  the  cause  of  truth  does  not  require 
long  speeches,  and  few  words  will  convince  an  honest 
heart.  I  have  done.  I  do  not  believe  that  you  will 
refuse  to  abide  by  the  law  and  custom  which  has  al- 
ways existed  among  the  Indians,  and  between  them 
and  the  French.  There  would  be  iniquity  and  dan- 
ger in  the  breach  of  that  law  :  honor,  justice,  peace 
and  safety  lie  in  its  observance.  Your  white  brother 
waits  for  an  answer." 

The  Indians  listened  to  this   speech  with  profound 


212  THE    CHIEFS    AGREE    TO 

attention,  but  made  no  reply,  and  Bienviile  ordered 
them  to  be  remanded  to  prison.  The  next  morning, 
at  daybreak,  they  requested  to  speak  to  Bienviile,  and 
they  were  conducted  to  his  presence.  The  Indian, 
who  was  the  first  of  the  chiefs  by  rank,  addressed  him 
in  these  terms  :  "  The  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit  made 
itself  heard  within  us  last  night.  We  have  listened  to 
his  dictate,  and  we  come  to  give  our  white  brother  what- 
ever satisfaction  he  desires.  But  we  wish  him  to  ob- 
serve that  we,  the  great  chiefs,  being  all  prisoners, 
there  is  no  man  left  behind,  who  has  the  power  to 
accomplish  the  mission  of  bringing  the  heads  thou  de- 
mandest.  Let  therefore  the  Stung  Serpent  be  liberated, 
and  thy  will  shall  be  done."  To  this  request,  Bienviile 
refused  his  assent,  because  he  knew  the  energy  of  that 
chief,  and  doubted  his  intentions ;  but  he  consented 
that  Little  Sun  should  go  in  his  brother's  place. 

Five  days  had  elapsed,  when  Little  Sun  returned, 
and  brought  three  heads.  After  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  their  features,  Bienviile  sent  again  for  all  the 
chiefs,  and  ordering  one  of  the  heads  to  be  flung  at 
their  feet ;  "  The  eye  of  the  white  chief,"  said  he, 
"  sees  clear  through  the  fog  of  your  duplicity,  and  his 
heart  is  full  of  sorrow  at  your  conduct.  This  is  not 
the  head  of  the  guilty,  but  of  the  innocent  who  has 
died  for  the  guilty.  This  is  not  the  head  of  Oyelape, 
he  whom  ye  call  the  Chief  of  the  White  Clay." 


PUNISH    THE    MURDERERS. 


"  True,"  answered  the  Indians,  "  we  do  not  deny  thy 
word,  but  Oyelape  has  fled,  and  his  brother  was  killed 
in  his  place."  "If  even  it  be  so,"  observed  Bienville, 
"  this  substitution  cannot  be  accepted." 

The  next  day,  the  15th  of  May,  Bienville  allowed 
two  other  chiefs  and  the  great  priest  to  depart  for 
their  villages,  to  try  if  they  would  not  be  more  suc- 
cessful than  the  Little  Sun.  They  returned  on  the 
25th,  and  informed  Bienville  that  they  could  not  dis- 
cover the  place  of  Oyelape's  concealment,  but  they 
brought  along  with  them  some  slaves  and  part  of  the 
goods  which  had  belonged  to  the  murdered  French- 
men. In  the  meantime,  twenty-two  Frenchmen  and 
Canadians  who  were  coming  down  the  river  in  sepa- 
rate detachments,  having  seen  the  parchment  signs 
posted  up  along  its  banks,  by  the  order  of  Bienville, 
had  given  a  wide  berth  to  the  side  occupied  by  the 
Natchez,  and  using  proper  precaution,  had  arrived 
safely  at  Bienville's  camp.  Thus  he  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  seventy-one  men,  well  armed,  of  tried  har- 
dihood, and  used  to  Indian  warfare.  This  was  a  for- 
tunate accession  to  his  forces  ;  for  the  Indians  had 
almost  determined  to  make,  in  their  canoes,  a  night  at- 
tack upon  the  island,  and  to  rescue  their  chiefs  in  the 
attempt.  The  Tunicas  had  given  to  Bienville  notice 
of  what  was  brewing  among  the  Natchez,  and  offered 
forty  of  their  best  warriors  to  assist  the  French  in  the 


214  THE    MURDERERS    ARE 

defence  of  the  island.  But  Bienville,  who,  although 
he  affected  to  put  great  trust  in  them,  feared  that  they 
might  prove  traitors,  refused,  with  apparent  thankful- 
ness, their  proffered  assistance,  and  replied  that,  with 
his  small  force,  he  could  make  the  island  good  against 
the  whole  tribe  of  the  Natchez.  This  manifestation 
of  confidence  in  his  strength,  and  the  timely  arrival  of 
the  twenty-two  white  men,  with  some  Illinois,  no 
doubt  prevented  the  Natchez  from  carrying  their  pro- 
ject into  execution.  It  is  probable  that  they  were 
also  deterred  by  the  consideration,  that  the  French,  if 
hard  pressed,  would  put  their  prisoners  to  death. 

The  Great  Sun,  the  Stung  Serpent,  and  the  Little 
Sun,  who,  perhaps,  had  so  far  delayed  to  make  any 
confession,  because  they  entertained  the  expectation  of 
being  rescued,  having  at  last  given  up  this  hope,  came 
out  with  a  frank  avowal.  They  maintained  that  they 
never  had  any  previous  knowledge  of  the  intended 
murder  of  the  French,  and  declared  that  four  of  the 
assassins  were  among  Bienville's  prisoners.  One  of 
them  was  called  the  Chief  of  the  Beard ;  the  other  was 
named  Alahoflechia,  the  Chief  of  the  Walnut  Village ; 
the  two  others  were  ordinary  warriors.  They  affirmed 
that  these  were  the  only  guilty  ones,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Oyelape,  the  Chief  of  the  White  Clay,  who 
had  fled.  "  The  Great  Spirit,"  they  said,  "  has  blinded 
them,  has  turned  their  wits  inside  out,  and  they  have, 


SURRENDERED    TO    BIENVILLE.  215 

of  their  own  accord,  delivered  themselves  into  thy 
hands.  It  is  fortunate  that  it  be  so ;  otherwise,  the 
two  warriors  might  have  fled,  and  the  two  chiefs  are 
such  favorites  with  the  nation,  that  they  would  have 
successfully  resisted  our  demand  for  their  heads,  and 
to  give  thee  satisfaction  would  have  been  impossible. 
As  it  is,  it  shows  that  our  Great  Spirit  has  shaken 
hands  with  the  God  of  the  Cross,  and  has  passed  on 
the  side  of  our  white  brother." 

It  was  then  the  1st  of  June,  and  the  river  which 
was  rising  daily,  had  overflowed  the  island,  one  foot 
deep,  and  made  the  quarters  of  the  French  more  than 
uncomfortable.  Humidity,  combined  with  heat,  had 
engendered  disease,  and  half  of  Bienville's  men  were 
stretched  on  the  couch  of  sickness.  It  was  then  high 
time  for  him  to  put  an  end  to  the  situation  he  was  in. 
Summoning  to  his  presence  all  his  prisoners,  with  the 
exception  of  the  four  men  who  had  been  designated 
as  the  assassins,  he  said  to  them  :  "  Your  people  after 
having  invited  my  people  to  trade  with  them,  suddenly 
violated  the  laws  of  hospitality,  and  treacherously 
murdered  four  Frenchmen  who  were  their  guests. 
They  thought  the  atrocious  deed  would  remain  un- 
known, and  that  they  would  quietly  enjoy  their  blood- 
stained plunder.  But  the  souls  of  the  dead  spoke  to 
me,  and  I  came,  and  I  invited  you  to  my  camp,  as  you 
had  invited  the  French  to  your  villages,  and  you  be- 


216  BIENVILLE'S  TREATY. 

came  my  guests,  as  they  had  been  yours,  and  I  rose 
upon  you,  as  you  rose  upon  them.  Measure  for  mea- 
sure. But  I  shall  not  butcher  you,  as  you  butchered 
them.  You  killed  the  innocent  and  the  confiding — I 
shall  kill  only  the  treacherous  and  the  guilty.  Who 
can  say  that  this  is  not  justice  ?  Now,  let  us  bury  the 
hatchet  of  war.  I  am  satisfied  with  and  believe  your 
last  declarations.  Hear,  then,  on  what  conditions  I 
consent  to  release  you  and  grant  you  peace.  You 
will  swear  to  put  to  death,  as  soon  as  possible,  Oye- 
lape,  the  Chief  of  the  White  Clay,  and  you  will  bring 
his  head  to  the  French  officer  whom  I  shall  station 
among  you.  You  will  consent  also,  to  my  putting  to 
death  the  two  chiefs  and  the  two  warriors  who  are  in 
my  hands.  You  will  restore  every  object  that  you 
may  ever  have  taken  from  the  French  ;  for  what  has 
been  lost  or  wasted,  you  will  force  your  people  to  pay 
the  equivalent  in  furs  and  provisions.  You  will  oblige 
them  to  cut  two  thousand  five  hundred  stakes  of  aca- 
cia wood,  thirteen  feet  long  by  a  diameter  of  ten 
inches,  and  to  convey  the  whole  to  the  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  at  such  a  spot  as  it  will  please  the  French 
to  erect  a  fort ;  and  furthermore,  you  will  bind  your- 
selves to  furnish  us,  as  a  covering  for  our  buildings, 
with  the  barks  of  three  thousand  trees.  This  is  to  be 
expected  before  the  first  day  of  July ;  and  above  all, 
you  will  also  swear,  never,  and  under  no  pretext 


ITS    KATIFICATION    BY    THE    NATCHE/.  217 

or  color  whatever,  to  entertain  the  slightest  com- 
mercial or  friendly  relations  with  the  British,  whom 
you  know  to  be  the  eternal  enemies  of  the  French." 

The  chiefs  assented  to  these  terms,  swore  by  the 
sun  that  they  would,  for  the  future,  be  the  best  friends 
of  the  French,  and  urged  Bienville  to  smoke  the  pipe 
of  peace.  Bienville  knew  well  what  to  think  of  these 
hollow  protestations,  but  affected  to  believe  in  the  re- 
turn of  the  Natchez  to  the  sentiments  they  professed. 
He  refused,  however,  to  smoke,  because  he  considered 
that  the  treaty  of  peace  would  not  be  valid,  until  rati- 
fied in  a  meeting  of  the  whole  nation,  but  he  dismissed 
all  the  Indians,  with  the  exception  of  the  Stung  Ser- 
pent, the  Little  Sun.  and  the  four  criminals  who  were 
doomed  to  death.  With  the  departing  Indians,  he  sent 
Aid-major  Pailloux,  accompanied  by  three  soldiers,  to 
be  present  at  the  ratification  of  the  treaty.  On  the 
7th  of  June,  nine  old  men  came,  with  great  ceremony 
and  pomp,  to  give  to  Bienville  official  information  of 
the  expected  ratification. 

On  the  12th,  the  Uvo  Indian  chiefs  were  put  to 
death,  the  two  warriors  having  already  met  their  fate 
on  the  9th.  When  the  Chief  of  the  Beard  saw  that 
the  moment  had  come  for  the  execution  of  the  sen- 
tence passed  upon  him,  he  ceased  his  death-song  which 
he  had  been  chanting  for  some  lime,  and  took  up  a 
sort  of  war-song,  whilst  he  looked  fiercely  at  the 


218  WAR    SONG    OF    THE 

threatening  muskets  of  the  French,  and  at  the  few 
Indians  of  his  tribe  whom  Bienville  had  detained  to 
witness  the  death  of  the  culprit. 


U)ar 


"  Let  there  be  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez  !  A  child 
is  born  to  them  of  the  race  of  their  suns.  A  boy  is  born  with 
beard  on  his  chin  !  The  prodigy  still  works  on  from  genera- 
tion to  generation."  So  sang  the  warriors  of  my  tribe  when 
I  sprung  from  my  mother's  womb,  and  the  shrill  cry  of  the 
eagle  in  the  heavens  was  heard  in  joyous  response.  Hardly 
fifteen  summers  had  passed  over  my  head,  when  long  and 
glossy  my  beard  had  grown.  I  looked  round,  and  I  saw  that 
I  was  the  only  red  man  that  had  this  awful  mark  on  his  face, 
and  I  interrogated  my  mother,  and  she  said : 

Son  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Beard, 
Thou  shalt  know  this  mystery, 
In  which  thy  curious  eye  wishes  to  pry, 
When  thy  beard  from  black  becomes  red. 

II, 

Let  there  be  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez  !  A  hunter 
is  born  to  them,  a  hunter  of  the  race  of  their  suns.  Ask  of 
the  bears,  of  the  buffaloes,  of  the  tigers,  and  of  the  swift- 
footed  deer,  whose  arrows  they  fear  most.  They  tremble 


CHIEF    OF    THE    BEARD.  219 

and  cower  when  the  footstep  of  the  hunter  with  beard  on  his 
chin  is  heard  on  the  heath.  But  I  was  born  too  with  brains 
in  my  head,  as  well  as  beard  on  my  chin,  and  I  pondered  on 
my  mother's  words.  One  day,  when  a  leopard,  whom  I 
strangled,  had  torn  my  breast,  I  painted  my  beard  with  my 
own  blood,  and  I  stood  smiling  before  her.  She  said  nothing, 
but  her  eye  gleamed  with  wild  delight,  and  she  took  me  to 
the  temple,  where,  standing  by  the  sacred  fire,  she  thus  sang 
to  me : 

Son  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Board, 

Thou  shalt  know  the  mystery, 

Since,  true  to  thy  nature,  with  thy  own  blood, 

Thy  black  beard  thou  hast  turned  to  red. 

ill. 

Let  there  be  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez !  for  a  wil- 
ted chief,  worthy  of  the  race  of  their  suns,  has  been  born  to 
them,  in  thee,  my  son  ;  a  noble  chief,  with  beard  on  his  chin  ! 
Listen  to  the  explanation  of  that  prodigy.  In  days  of  old,  a 
Natchez  maid,  of  the  race  of  their  suns,  was  on  a  visit  to  the 
Mobilians.  There,  she  soon  loved  the  youthful  chief  of  that 
nation,  and  her  wedding  day  was  nigh,  when  there  came  from 
the  big  salt  lake,  south,  a  host  of  bearded  men,  who  sacked 
the  town,  slew  the  red  chief  with  their  thunder,  and  one  of 
those  accursed  evil  spirits  used  violence  to  the  maid,  when 
her  lover's  corpse  was  hardly  cold  in  death.  She  f'mnd.  in 
sorrow,  her  way  back  to  the  Natchez  hills,  where  she  became 
a  mother  ;  and  1<> !  the  boy  had  board  on  his  chin  !  and  when 


220  WAR    SONG    OF    THE 

he  grew  to  understand  his  mother's  words,  she  whispered  in 
his  ear : 

Son  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Beard, 

Born  from  a  bloody  day, 

Bloody  be  thy  hand,  bloody  be  thy  life, 

Until  thy  black  beard  with  blood  becomes  red. 

IV. 

Let  there  be  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez !  In  my 
first  ancestor,  a  long  line  of  the  best  of  hunters,  of  chiefs,  and 
of  warriors,  of  the  race  of  their  suns,  had  been  born  to  them, 
with  beard  on  their  chin  !  What  chase  was  ever  unsuccess- 
ful, when  over  it  they  presided  ?  When  they  spoke  in  the 
council  of  the  wise  men  of  the  nation,  did  it  not  always  turn 
out  that  their  advice,  whether  adopted  or  rejected,  was  the 
best  in  the  end  ?  In  what  battle  were  they  ever  defeated  ? 
When  were  they  known  to  be  worn  out  with  fatigue,  hard- 
ships, hunger  or  thirst,  heat  or  cold,  either  on  land  or  on 
water  ?  Who  ever  could  stem,  as  they,  the  rushing  current 
of  the  father  of  rivers  ?  Who  can  count  the  number  of  scalps 
which  they  brought  from  distant  expeditions  ?  Their  names 
have  always  been  famous  in  the  wigwams  of  all  the  red  na- 
tions. They  have  struck  terror  into  the  boldest  breasts  of 
the  enemies  of  the  Natchez  ;  and  mothers,  when  their  sons 
paint  their  bodies  in  the  colors  of  war,  say  to  them  : 

Fight  where  and  with  whom  you  please, 

But  beware,  oh !  beware  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Beard ! 

Give  way  to  them,  as  you  would  to  death, 

Or  their  black  beards  with  your  blood  will  be  red  ! 


CHIEF    OF    THE    BEARD.  221 

V. 

Let  there  be  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez  !  When 
the  first  Chief  of  the  Beard  first  trimmed  the  sacred  fire  in 
the  temple,  a  voice  was  heard,  which  said,  "  As  long  as  there 
lives  a  chief,  of  the  race  of  the  suns,  with  beard  on  his  chin, 
no  evil  can  happen  to  the  Natchez  nation  ;  but  if  the  white 
race  should  ever  resume  the  blood  which  it  gave,  in  a  bloody 
day,  woe,  three  times  woe  to  the  Natchez  !  of  them  nothing 
will  remain  but  the  shadow  of  a  name !"  Thus  spoke  the 
invisible  prophet.  Years  rolled  on,  years  thick  on  years,  and 
none  of  the  accursed  white  faces  were  seen  !  But  they  ap- 
peared at  last,  wrapped  up  in  their  pale  skins,  like  shrouds 
of  the  dead;  and  the  father  of  my  father,  whom  tradition  had 
taught  to  guard  against  the  predicted  danger,  slew  two  of  the 
hated  strangers  ;  and  my  father,  in  his  turn,  killed  four ! 

Praise  be  to  the  Chiefs  of  the  Beard  ! 
Who  knew  how  to  avenge  their  old  ancestral  injury  ! 
When  witli  the  sweet  blood  of  a  white  foe, 
Their  black  beard  they  proudly  painted  red. 


Let  there  be  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez !  When  I 
saw  the  glorious  light  of  day,  there  was  born  to  them  a  great 
warrior,  of  the  race  of  their  suns,  a  warrior  and  a  chief  with 
beard  on  his  chin  !  The  pledge  of  protection,  of  safety,  and 
of  glory  stood  embodied  in  me.  When  I  shouted  my  first 
war-whoop,  the  owl  hooted  and  smelt  the  ghosts  of  my  eno- 


222         WAR    SONG    OF    THE    CHIEF    OF    THE    BEARD. 

mies  ! — the  wolves  howled,  and  the  carrion  vultures  shrieked 
with  joy,  for  they  knew  their  food  was  coming  ! — and  I  fed 
them  with  Chickasaw  flesh,  with  Choctaw  flesh,  until  they 
were  gorged  with  the  flesh  of  the  red  men !  A  kind  master 
and  purveyor  I  was  to  them,  the  poor  dumb  creatures  that  I 
loved  !  But  lately,  I  have  given  them  more  dainty  food.  I 
boast  of  having  done  better  than  my  father :  five  Frenchmen 
have  I  killed,  and  my  only  regret  at  dying,  is,  that  it  will 
prevent  my  killing  more  ! 

Ha  !  ha !  ha !  that  was  game  worthy  of  the  Chief  of  the  Beard  ! 

How  lightly  he  danced !   ho !  ho  !  ho  ! 

How  gladly  he  shouted  !   ha !  ha !  ha  ! 

Each  time  with  French  blood,  his  black  beard  became  red  ! 

VII. 

Let  sorrow  be  in  the  hearts  of  the  Natchez  !  The  great 
hunter  is  no  more  !  The  wise  chief  is  going  to  meet  his 
forefathers  :  the  indomitable  warrior  will  no  longer  raise  his 
hatchet  in  the  defence  of  the  children  of  the  sun.  O  burn- 
ing shame  ! — he  was  betrayed  by  his  brother  chiefs,  who  sold 
his  blood.  If  they  had  followed  his  advice,  they  would  have 
united  with  the  Choctaws,  with  the  Chickasaws,  and  all  the  other 
red  nations,  and  they  would  have  slain  all  the  French  dogs 
that  came  prowling  and  stealing  over  the  beautiful  face  of 
our  country.  But  there  was  too  much  of  the  woman  in  their 
cowardly  hearts.  Well  and  good  !  Let  the  will  of  fate  be 
accomplished  !  The  white  race  will  soon  resume  the  blood 
which  they  gave,  and  then  the  glory  and  the  very  existence 


HIS    EXECUTION.  223 

of  the  Natchez  nation  will  have  departed  forever,  with  the 
Chief  of  the  Beard  ;  for  I  am  the  last  of  my  race,  and  my 
blood  flows  in  no  other  human  veins.  O  Natchez  !  Natchez  ! 
remember  the  prophet's  voice  !  I  am  content  to  die,  for  I 
leave  behind  me  none  but  the  doomed,  and  I  go  to  revel  with 
my  brave  ancestors ! 

They  will  recognize  their  son  in  the  Chief  of  the  Beard  ; 
They  will  welcome  him  to  their  glorious  homestead, 
When  they  see  so  many  scalps  at  his  girdle, 
And  his  black  beard  with  French  blood  painted  red ! 

He  ceased,  and  stood  up  before  the  admiring  eyes 
of  the  French,  with  a  look  of  exulting  defiance,  and 
with  his  fine  athletic  person,  measuring  seven  feet  high, 
and  seemingly  dilated  into  more  gigantic  proportions 
by  the  excitement  which  convulsed  his  soul.  The 
French  officer  who  commanded  the  platoon  of  soldiers, 
chosen  on  this  occasion  to  fulfil  a  melancholy  duty, 
gave  the  word,  "fire !"  and  the  Chief  of  the  Beard 
passed  into  another  world. 

On  the  3rd  of  August,  the  fortifications  ordered  by 
Bienville,  had  been  completed,  the  Indians  having 
strictly  complied  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  They 
did  more :  they  not  only  furnished  all  the  materials 
which  had  been  stipulated,  but  labored  with  great  x.eal 
in  cutting  ditches,  in  raising  the  parapets  and  bastions 
of  the  fort,  and  in  constructing  the  buildings  required 


224  BIENVILLE    ERECTS    FORT    ROSALIE. 

by  the  French.  Stung  Serpent  even  sent  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  to  the  French,  to  transport  all  their  bag- 
gage, ammunition  and  provisions,  from  the  Tunicas  to 
the  Natchez.  On  the  25th  of  August,  Bienville  found 
himself  comfortably  and  securely  established  in  the 
strong  position  which  he  had,  in  such  a  wily  manner, 
obtained,  as  we  know,  from  the  Natchez.  However, 
they  appeared  to  have  dropped  all  resentment  at  the 
mode  by  which  Bienville  had  got  such  advantages  over 
them,  and  they  behaved  as  if  they  were  extremely  de- 
sirous to  impress  upon  him  the  belief  that  they  were 
delighted  at  his  forming  a  settlement  among  them. 
Five  or  six  hundred  men  of  that  tribe,  accompanied 
by  three  hundred  women,  came  one  day  to  dance  under 
the  walls  of  the  fort,  as  a  manifestation  of  their  joy  at 
the  termination  of  their  quarrel  with  the  French,  and 
at  the  determination  of  the  pale  faces  to  establish  them- 
selves among  their  red  friends.  Bienville  invited  the 
chiefs  to  come  into  the  fort,  and  treated  them  with  due 
honors.  It  is  evident  that  the  Indians  wished  to  pro- 
pitiate the  strangers  whom  they  could  not  shake  off, 
and  whom,  from  instinct  alone,  they  must  have  re- 
garded as  their  most  dangerous  enemies,  and  as  the  fu- 
ture* cause  of  their  ultimate  ruin.  But  that  they  felt 
any  satisfaction  at  the  intrusion  of  these  new  comers, 
the  knowledge  of  human  nature  forbids  to  believe. 
Two  distinct  and  antagonistical  races  had  met  front  to 


CADILLAC    SUPERSEDED.  225 

front,  and  at  the  very  moment  they  appeared  to  em- 
brace in  amity,  and  joined  in  the  carousing  feast,  the 
one  was  secretly  meditating  subjugation,  and  the  other, 
resistance  and  revenge. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  seeing  no  signs  of  hostility 
from  the  Indians,  Bienville  left  Aid-major  Pailloux  in 
command  of  the  new  fort,  which  was  called  "  Rosalie," 
and  departed  for  Mobile,  where  he  arrived  on  the  4th 
of  October,  with  the  satisfaction  of  having  accom- 
plished the  difficult  task  with  which  he  had  been 
charged.  This  was  one  cause  of  triumph  over  his  ad- 
versary, Cadillac,  but  he  there  found  another  cause  of 
gratulation  in  a  letter  to  him  from  the  minister  of  the 
marine  department,  in  which  he  was  instructed  to  re- 
sume the  government  of  the  colony,  in  the  absence  of 
De  1'Epinay,  appointed  to  succeed  Cadillac.  This  was 
fortunate  for  Bienville,  for  he  found  his  quondam  supe- 
rior in  a  towering  rage  at  his  success,  and  at  what  he 
called  Bienville's  execrable  perfidy  in  taking  forcible 
possession  of  the  Indian  chiefs,  as  he  did.  But  Bien- 
ville contented  himself  with  laughing  at  his  impotent 
vituperation. 

Before  closing  with  Cadillac's  administration,  I 
shall  briefly  relate  some  other  curious  incidents,  with 
which  it  was  signali/ed.  In  1715,  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Dutign6,  who  loved  a  joke,  wishing  to  amuse  him- 
self with  Cadillac's  inordinate  passion  for  the  discovery 

11 


226  ANECDOTES    OF    CADILLAC. 

of  mines,  exhibited  to  him  some  pieces  of  ore,  which 
contained  certain  proportions  of  silver,  and  persuaded 
him  that  they  had  been  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Kaskaskias.  This  was  enough  to  fire  Cadillac's 
overheated  imagination.  Anticipating  the  realization 
of  all  his  dreams,  he  immediately  set  off  for  the  Illinois, 
where,  much  to  his  mortification,  he  learned  that  he 
had  been  imposed  upon  by  Dutigne,  to  whom  the  de- 
ceptive pieces  of  ore  had  been  given  by  a  Mexican, 
who  had  brought  them  from  his  country.  After  an 
absence  of  eight  months,  spent  in  fruitless  researches, 
he  returned  to  Mobile,  where  he  found  himself  the 
laughing-stock  of  the  community.  This  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  soothe  his  mind,  and  in  one  of  his  dispatches, 
in  which  he  gave  an  account  of  the  colony,  he  said : 

"  There  are  as  many  governors  here  as  there  are 
officers.  Every  one  of  them  would  like  to  perform  his 
duties  according  to  his  own  interpretation.  As  to  the 
superior  council  of  this  province,  allow  me  to  represent 
to  your  grace,  that  its  assuming  the  authority  to  modify 
his  Majesty's  orders,  is  fraught  with  injury  to  the  royal 
interest,  and  precludes  the  possibility  of  establishing 
here  a  good  government,  because  the  language  of  its 
members  smacks  more  of  the  independence  of  repub- 
licans than  of  the  subordination  of  loyal  subjects.  '  7 
will  or  will  not,' — '  it  shall  or  shall  not  be,'  are  words 
of  daily  utterance  in  their  mouths.  A  governor  must 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  QUARREL  WITH  THE  NATCHEZ.   227 

be  clothed  with  power  superior  to  any  other,  in  order 
that  he  may  act  with  effect,  and  cause  to  be  executed, 
with  prompt  exactitude,  the  commands  of  his  Majesty, 
instead  of  his  being  checked  by  any  controlling  or  op- 
posing influence  ;  which  is  always  the  case,  when  he  is 
forced  to  consult  subaltern  officers,  who  are  swayed 
entirely  by  their  own  interest,  and  care  very  little  for 
the  service  of  the  king,  or  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
colony."  These  were  stones  flung  at  Bienville,  at  the 
commissary  Duclos,  and  at  the  superior  council,  who 
threw  obstacles  in  his  way,  and  interfered  with  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  absolute  power  which  he  thought  that  he 
possessed,  because,  as  governor,  he  considered  himself 
to  be  an  emanation  from,  and  a  representation  of  the 
king! 

On  his  way  up  the  river  to  search  for  gold  and 
silver,  Cadillac  stopped  at  Natchez.  As  soon  as  he 
was  known  to  approach,  the  Indian  chiefs  came  out  in 
barbaric  state  to  meet  him,  and,  according  to  their 
usages,  presented  to  him  their  calumet,  in  token  of 
peace  and  amity.  Highly  incensed  Cadillac  was  at 
the  presumption  of  the  savages,  in  supposing  that  he 
would  contaminate  his  patrician  lips  with  the  contact 
of  their  vile  pipe.  lie  accordingly  treated  the  poor 
Indians  very  little  better  than  he  would  uncouth  ani- 
mals, thrusting  themselves  into  his  presence.  His 
having  departed  without  having  consented  to  smoke 


228  CHOCTAW    CHIEF    ASSASSINATED. 

with  them,  had  impressed  the  Natchez,  who  could  not 
understand  the  nature  of  his  pride,  with  the  idea  that 
he  meditated  war  upon  their  tribe.  Then,  they  resolv- 
ed to  anticipate  the  expected  blow,  and  they  secretly 
massacred  some  Frenchmen  who  happened  to  be  in 
their  villages.  Hence  the  origin  of  the  first  quarrel  of 
the  Natchez  with  the  French,  to  which  Bienville  put 
an  end,  with  such  signal  success,  but  with  a  little 
sprinkling  of  treachery. 

It  was  not  the  Natchez  alone  whom  Cadillac  had  of- 
fended. He  had  alienated  from  the  French  the  affections 
of  the  Choctaws,  who  had  always  been  their  friends,  but 
who,  latterly,  had  invited  the  English  to  settle  among 
them.  Cadillac  ordered  them  to  expel  their  new  guests, 
but  the  Choctaws  answered  that  they  did  not  care  for  him, 
nor  for  the  forty  or  fifty  French  rogues  whom  he  had 
under  his  command.  This  was  the  kick  of  the  ass,  and 
Cadillac  resolved  not  to  bear  it,  but  to  show  them  that 
the  lion  wras  not  yet  dead.  After  deep  cogitations,  he 
conceived,  for  their  punishment,  a  politic  stroke,  which 
he  carried  into  execution,  and  of  which  he  informed  his 
government,  with  Spartan  brevity  :  "I  have  persuaded," 
said  he,  "  the  brother  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Choc- 
taws to  kill  his  sovereign  and  brother,  pledging  myself 
to  recognize  him  as  his  successor.  He  did  so,  and  came 
here  with  an  escort  of  one  hundred  men.  I  gave  him 
presents,  and  secured  from  him  an  advantageous  peace." 


CADILLAC'S  REPORT  ON  THE  STATE  OF  LOUISIANA.    229 

Thus,  it  is  seen  that  Cadillac,  with  a  very  bad 
grace,  pretended  that  his  tender  sensibilities  were 
shocked  at  the  treatment  of  the  Natchez  chiefs  by  Bi- 
enville.  In  his  case  it  was  the  eye  with  the  beam 
finding  fault  with  the  mote  in  his  neighbor's  eye. 

On  the  22nd  of  June,  1716,  the  exasperation  of 
Cadillac,  who  found  himself  in  a  hornet's  nest,  had 
become  such,  that  he  vented  his  feelincrs  in  these 

o 

terms,  in  one  of  his  dispatches  :  "Decidedly  this  colony 
is  a  monster  without  head  or  tail,  and  its  government  is 
a  shapeless  absurdity.  The  cause  of  it  is,  that  the  fic- 
tions of  fabulists  have  been  believed  in  preference  to 
the  veracity  of  my  declarations.  Ah !  why  is  there  in 
falsehood  a  charm  which  makes  it  more  acceptable 
than  truth  ?  Has  it  not  been  asserted  that  there  are 
mines  in  Arkansas  and  elsewhere  ?  It  is  a  deliberate 
error.  Has  not  a  certain  set  of  novel  writers  published 
that  this  country  is  a  paradise,  when  its  beauty  or 
utility  is  a  mere  phantasm  of  the  brain  ?  I  protest 
that,  having  visited  and  examined  the  whole  of  it  with 
care,  I  never  saw  any  thing  so  worthless.  This  I 
must  say,  because  my  conscience  forbids  me  to  deceive 
his  Majesty.  I  have  always  regarded  truth  as  a  queen, 
whose  laws  1  was  bound  to  obey,  like  a  devoted  knight, 
and  a  faithful  subject.  This  is,  no  doubt,  the  cause  of 
my  having  sturk  fast  in  the  middle  of  my  career,  and 
not  progressed  in  the  path  of  promotion,  whilst  others, 


230     CADILLAC'S  PROCLAMATION  AGAINST  DUELLING. 

who  had  more  political  skill,  understood  how  to  frame, 
at  my  expense,  pleasing  misrepresentations.  I  know 
how  to  govern  as  well  as  any  body,  but  poverty  and 
impotence  are  two  ugly  scars  on  the  face  of  a  governor. 
What  can  I  do  with  a  force  of  forty  soldiers,  out  of 
whom  five  or  six  are  disabled  ?  A  pretty  army  that  is, 
and  well  calculated  to  make  me  respected  by  the  in- 
habitants or  by  the  Indians  !  As  a  climax  to  my  vexa- 
tion, they  are  badly  fed,  badly  paid,  badly  clothed,  and 
without  discipline.  As  to  the  officers,  they  are  not 
much  better.  Verily,  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  in 
the  whole  universe  such  another  government." 

It  is  not  surprising  that,  under  such  circumstances, 
and  with  the  ideas  which  fermented  in  his  head,  Cadil- 
lac should  have  thought  that  a  terrible  crisis  was  at 
hand.  Laboring  under  that  impression,  he  took  refuge 
in  Dauphine  Island,  where  he  issued  a  proclamation,  in 
which  he  stated  that  considering  the  spirit  of  revolt 
and  sedition  which  reigned  in  the  colony,  and  the  many 
quarrels  and  duels  which  occurred  daily  and  were  pro- 
duced by  hasty  or  imprudent  words,  by  drunkenness, 
or  by  the  presence  of  loose  women,  he  prohibited  all 
plebeians  from  wearing  a  sword,  or  carrying  other 
weapons,  either  by  day  or  by  night,  under  the  penalty 
of  one  month's  imprisonment  and  of  a  fine  of  300 
livres,  to  be  applied  to  the  construction  of  a  church. 
As  to  persons  of  noble  birth,  they  were  to  prove  their 


HE    IS    RIDICULED    BY    HIS    ENEMIES.  231 

right  to  wear  a  sword,  by  depositing  their  titles  in  the 
archives  of  the  superior  council,  to  be  there  examined 
and  registered.  Cadillac's  enemies,  and  he  had  many, 
availed  themselves  of  this  proclamation  to  turn  him 
into  ridicule  ; — they  fabricated  every  sort  of  mock 
papers  of  nobility,  to  submit  them  to  the  superior 
council,  the  members  of  which,  from  ignorance  or  from 
a  desire  to  annoy  Cadillac,  referred  the  whole  of  them 
to  him,  who,  as  governor,  was  their  president.  Sadly 
puzzled  was  Cadillac  on  these  occasions,  and  his  judg- 
ments afforded  infinite  amusement  to  the  colonists. 
His  waggish  tormentors  went  farther,  and  pretending 
to  have  formed  an  order  of  chivalry,  they  elected  him, 
in  a  solemn  meeting,  grand  master  of  that  order,  under 
the  title  of  the  Knight  of  the  golden  calf.  They  de- 
clared, with  feigned  gravity,  that  this  was  done  in 
commemoration  of  the  wonderful  achievements  and 
labors  of  their  illustrious  governor  in  his  researches  for 
precious  metals.  This  piece  of  pleasantry  stung  him 
to  the  quick ;  but  he  winced  particularly  at  a  song 
which,  in  alternate  couplets,  compared  the  merits  of  the 
Knight  of  the  golden  calf  with  those  of  the  celebrated 
Knight  of  the  doleful  countenance,  and  gave  the  pre- 
ference to  the  first. 

Cadillac  was  preparing  to  repress  these  rebellious  and 

heinous  disorders,  when  he  received  a  letter  from  (.'ro/.at, 

n  which  the  great  merchant  told  him  bluntly,  that  all 


232  CADILLAC    DISMISSED    FROM    OFFICE. 

the  evils  of  which  he  complained,  originated  from  his 
own  bad  administration.  At  the  foot  of  the  letter,  the 
minister  of  the  marine  department  had  written  these 
words  :  "  The  governor,  Lamothe  Cadillac,  and  the 
commissary,  Duclos,  whose  dispositions  and  humors 
are  incompatible,  and  whose  intellects  are  not  equal  to 
the  functions  with  which  his  Majesty  has  intrusted 
them,  are  dismissed  from  office."  I  leave  it  to  a  more 
graphic  pen  to  describe  Cadillac's  look  and  Cadillac's 
feelings  when  this  thunderbolt  fell  on  his  head,  Suffice 
it  to  say,  that  he  contemptuously  shook  off  his  feet  the 
colonial  dust  which  had  there  gathered,  and  bundling 
up  his  household  gods,  removed  himself  and  them  out 
of  Louisiana,  which  he  pronounced  to  be  hell-doomed. 
At  that  time,  there  were  only  a  few  negroes  in  the 
colony,  and  they  were  all  to  be  found  about  Mobile  or 
in  Dauphine  Island.  These  were  the  only  persons  in 
whom  some  sympathy  was  discovered  for  the  departing 
governor.  This  sympathy  arose  from  a  ludicrous  cause. 
Cadillac  had  carried  to  America  the  fondest  remem- 
brance of  his  home  in  Europe,  and  he  loved  to  dilate 
on  the  merits  of  France,  of  his  native  province  of  Gas- 
cony,  of  the  beautiful  river  Garonne,  and  particularly 
of  his  old  feudal  tower,  in  which  he  pretended  that  one 
of  his  ancestors  had  been  blest  with  the  inestimable 
honor  of  receiving  the  famous  Black  Prince,  the  boast 
of  England.  There  was  hardly  one  day  in  the  week 


THE  CURATE  J)E  LA  VENTE.  233 

that  he  did  not  harp  upon  this  favorite  theme,  which  he 
always  resumed  with  new  exultation.  There  was  not 
a  human  creature  in  the  colony,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Indians,  who  was  not  familiar  with  this  oft-repeated 
anecdote,  which  had  gained  for  Cadillac  the  nickname 
of  the  Black  Prince.  It  became  a  sort  of  designation 
by  which  he  was  as  well  known  as  by  his  own  family 
name  ;  and  the  poor  Africans,  who  frequently  heard  it, 
had  supposed  that  Cadillac  dr$w  his  origin  from  a  prince 
of  their  blood  and  color.  This  was  to  them  a  source 
of  no  little  pride,  and  to  the  colonists  a  cause  of  endless 
merriment. 

There  was  another  person  who  highly  appreciated 
Cadillac,  and  who  keenly  regretted  his  dismissal  from 
office  :  that  person  was  the  Curate  de  la  Vente.  No 
Davion  was  he,  nor  did  he  resemble  a  Montigny.  With 
a  pale  face  and  an  emaciated  body ;  with  a  narrow 
forehead,  which  went  up  tapering  like  a  pear  ;  with 
thin  compressed  lips,  never  relaxed  by  a  smile  :  with 
small  gray  eyes,  occupying  very  diminutive  sockets, 
which  seemed  to  have  been  bored  with  a  gimlet  ;  and 
with  heavy  and  shaggy  eyebrows,  from  beneath  which 
issued,  habitually,  cold  and  even  stern  looks;  he  would 
have  struck  the  most  unobserving,  as  being  the  very 
personification  of  fanaticism.  When  ho  studied,  to 
qualify  himself  for  his  profession,  he  had.  several  timrs, 
read  the  Bible  and  the  Gospels  through  ;  but  his  little 

1 1  ' 


234  THE  CURATE  DE  LA  VENTE. 

mind  had  then  stuck  to  the  letter,  and  had  never  been 
able  to  comprehend  the  spirit,  of  the  holy  books.  Like 
a  fly,  it  had  moved  all  round  the  flask  which  contained 
the  sweet  liquor,  without  being  able  to  extract  the 
slightest  particle  of  it.  When  ordained  a  priest,  the 
Bible  and  the  Gospels  were  consigned  to  oblivion. 
For  him,  kneeling  was  prayer,  and  prayer  was  religion. 
Christianity,  which  is  the  triumph  of  reason,  because  it 
exacts  no  belief  but  that  which  flows  from  rational 
conviction,  was,  according  to  his  conception,  nothing 
but  a  mysterious  and  inexplicable  hodge-podge  of  crude 
and  despotic  dictates,  to  be  accepted  on  trust  and  sub- 
mitted to  without  reflection,  discussion,  or  analysis  of 
any  kind  :  for  him,  thought  in  such  matters  would  have 
been  a  grievous  sin  ;  his  breviary  was  the  only  book 
which  he  had  read  for  many  years,  and  he  laid  to  his 
soul  the  flattering  unction  that  he  was  a  pious  man, 
because  he  minutely  complied  with  the  ritual  of  his 
church.  He  fasted,  did  penance,  and  never  failed 
reciting,  in  due  time,  all  the  litanies.  Thus,  observing 
strictly  all  the  forms  and  discipline  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic faith,  he  thought  himself  a  very  good  Christian. 
But  every  man  who  did  not  frequently  confess  to  a 
priest,  and  did  not  receive  the  sacraments  as  often  as 
the  catechism  of  his  creed  required,  was,  in  his  opinion, 
no  better  than  a  pagan,  and  was  entirely  out  of  the 
pale  of  salvation.  Animated  with  the  fierce  zeal  of  a 


THE  CURATE  DE  LA  VENTE.  235 

bigot,  he  would  not  have  scrupled,  if  in  his  power,  to 
use  the  strong  hand  of  violence  to  secure  converts,  and 
to  doom  to  the  stake  and  to  the  fagot,  the  unbeliever 
in  all  the  tenets,  whether  fundamental  or  incidental,  of 
Catholicism  :  for  his  religion  consisted  in  implicit  be- 
lief in  all  the  prescriptions  of  his  church,  and  his  church 
was  God.  Hence,  all  government  which  was  not  the- 
ocratical,  or  bordering  on  it,  he  looked  upon  as  an  un- 
lawful and  sinful  assumption  of  power,  which  the  church, 
by  all  means,  was  bound  to  take  back,  as  its  legitimate 
property. 

With  such  dispositions,  the  Curate  de  la  Vente  soon 
became  the  terror  of  his  flock,  whose  frailties  he  de- 
nounced with  the  epileptic  violence  of  a  maniac,  and 
whose  slightest  delinquencies  he  threatened  with  eter- 
nal damnation.  A  fanatic  disciplinarian,  he  had  been 
shocked  at  the  laxity  with  which  the  soldiers,  the  offi- 
cers, the  Canadian  boatmen  and  traders,  and  the  other 
colonists,  performed  their  religious  duties.  He  did  not 
take  into  consideration  that  a  judicious  allowance  ought 
to  be  made  for  the  want  of  education  of  some,  for  the 
temptations  which  peculiar  circumstances  threw  in  the 
way  of  others,  and  for  the  particular  mode  of  life  to 
which  all  were  condemned,  and  which  might  be  re- 
ceived in  extenuation,  if  not  in  justification  of  many 
faults.  lie  might  have  reclaimed  some  by  the  soothing 
gentleness  of  friendlv  admonition  :  he  discouraged  or 


236  THE  CURATE  DE  LA  VENTE. 

disgusted  all  by  the  roughness  of  intemperate  reproach. 
Aware  of  the  aversion  which  he  had  inspired,  and  in- 
dignant at  the  evil  practices  in  which  some  indulged 
openly  from  inclination,  and  others,  out  of  vain  bravado 
to  a  minister  they  detested,  he  had  supported  Cadillac 
in  all  the  acts  of  his  administration,  in  all  his  represen- 
tations of  the  state  of  the  country ;  and  he  had  himself 
more  than  once  written  to  the  ministry,  that  God  would 
never  smile  upon  a  colony  inhabited  by  such  demons, 
heathens,  and  scoffers  at  the  Holy  Church ;  and  he  had 
recommended,  not  a  Saint  Bartholomew  execution,  it 
is  true,  but  a  general  expulsion  of  all  the  people  that 
were  in  the  colony,  in  order  to  replace  them  with  a 
more  religious-minded  community.  As  to  the  Indians, 
he  considered  them  as  sons  of  perdition,  who  offered 
few  hopes,  if  any,  of  being  redeemed  from  the  bondage 
of  Satan. 

Seeing  that  the  Ministry  had  paid  no  attention  to 
his  recommendations,  he  had  determined  to  make,  out 
of  the  infidels  by  whom  he  was  surrounded,  as  much 
money  as  he  could,  which  he  intended  to  apply  to  the 
purpose  of  advancing  the  interests  of  the  church,  in 
some  more  favorable  spot  for  the  germination  of  eccle- 
siastical domination.  With  this  view,  he  made  no 
scruple  to  fatten  upon  the  Philistines,  and  he  opened  a 
shop,  where  he  kept  for  sale,  barter,  or  exchange,  a 
variety  of  articles  of  trade.  He  disposed  of  them  at  a 


THE  CURATE  DE  LA  VENTE.  337 

price  of  which  the  purchasers  complained  as  being  most 
unconscionable  ;  and  he  also  loaned  money  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, at  a  rate  of  interest  which  was  extravagantly 
usurious.  As  a  salvo  to  his  conscience,  he  had  adopted 
the  comfortable  motto  that  the  end  justifies  the  means. 
The  benighted  Indians  and  the  unchristian  Christians 
(to  use  his  own  expressions)  were  not  spared  by  him. 
When  the  circumstance  was  too  tempting,  and  he  had 
to  deal  with  notorious  unbelievers,  he  would  even  in- 
dulge in  what  he  would  have  called  actual  cheating,  if 
coming  from  a  Christian  dealing  with  a  Christian.  On 
these  occasions,  he  would  groan  piteously,  cross  himself 
devoutly,  fall  on  his  knees  before  the  image  of  our  Sa- 
vior, and  striking  his  breast  with  compunction,  he  would 
exclaim,  "  O  sweet  Jesus,  if  this  be  an  infraction  of  thy 
law,  it  is  at  least  a  trifling  one,  and  it  is  done  for  the 
benefit  of  thy  church  :  forgive  me,  O  Lamb  of  mercy, 
and  I  will,  in  expiation,  say  twelve  paters  and  twelve 
aves  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  thy  Virgin  Mother,  or 
I  will  abstain  a  whole  day  from  all  food,  in  thy  honor." 
After  this  soliloquy,  he  would  get  up,  perfectly  recon- 
ciled with  himself  and  with  his  Maker,  to  whom,  in 
those  cases,  he  always  took  care  to  keep  his  plighted 
word.  Many  a  time,  his  worldly  transactions  for  the 
glorification  of  the  church,  and  for  the  increase  of 
church  property  at  the  expense  of  those  he  considered 
as  infidels,  forced  him  to  enter  into  such  strange  com- 


238  ST.    DENIS. 

promises  with  his  conscience  and  with  his  God.  Hence 
the  origin  of  the  accusation  brought  against  him  by 
Bienville,  in  one  of  his  dispatches,  and  which  I  have 
already  reported,  "  that  he  kept  open  shop,  and  was  a 
shrewd  compound  of  the  Jew  and  of  the  Arab."  The 
truth  is,  that  he  was  sincere  in  his  mistaken  faith,  pious 
to  the  best  of  his  understanding,  a  Christian  in  will 
although  not  in  fact,  a  zealous  priest  in  his  way,  which 
he  thought  a  correct  one,  and  a  lamentable  compound 
of  fanaticism  and  imbecility. 

In  August,  1716,  a  short  time  before  the  recall  of 
Cadillac,  there  had  returned  to  Mobile  a  young  man 
named  St.  Denis,  who  was  a  relation  of  Bienville,  and 
whom,  two  years  before,  Cadillac  had  sent  to  Natchi- 
toches,  to  oppose  the  Spaniards  in  an  establishment 
which  it  was  reported  they  intended  to  make  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  His  orders  were,  to  proceed  after- 
wards to  New  Mexico,  to  ascertain  if  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  establish  in  that  direction  internal  relations 
of  commerce  between  Louisiana  and  the  Mexican  pro- 
vinces, where  it  was  hoped  that  Crozat  would  find  a 
large  outlet  for  his  goods.  When  St.  Denis  arrived  at 
the  village  of  the  Natchitoches,  hearing  no  tidings  of 
the  supposed  expedition  of  the  Spaniards,  he  left  there 
a  few  Canadians,  whom  he  ordered  to  form  a,  settle- 
ment ;  and,  accompanied  by  twelve  others,  who  were 
picked  men,  and  by  a  few  Indians,  he  undertook  to  ac- 
complish the  more  difficult  part  of  his  mission 


HCS    CHARACTER.  239 

I  would  recommend  this  expedition  of  St.  Denis, 
and  his  adventures,  to  any  one  in  search  of  a  subject  for 
literary  composition.  It  is  a  fruitful  theme,  affording 
to  the  writer  the  amplest  scope  for  the  display  of  tal- 
ent of  the  most  varied  order.  St.  Denis  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  characters  of  the  early  history  of 
Louisiana. 

"  He  hither  came,  a  private  gentleman, 
But  young  and  brave,  and  of  a  family 
Ancient  and  noble." 

He  was  a  knight-errant  in  his  feelings  and  ii  his 
doings  throughout  life,  and  every  thing  connected 
with  him,  or  that  came  within  the  purview  of  his  ex- 
istence, was  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  romance.  The 
noble  bearing  of  his  tall,  well  proportioned,  and  re- 
markably handsome  person  was  in  keeping  with  the 
lofty  spirit  of  his  soul.  He  was  one  in  whom  nature 
had  given  the  world  assurance  of  a  man,  and  that  as- 
surance was  so  strongly  marked  in  the  countenance  of 
St.  Denis,  that  wherever  he  appeared,  he  instanta- 
neously commanded  love,  respect,  and  admiration. 
There  are  beings  who  carry  in  their  lineaments  the 
most  legible  evidence  of  their  past  and  future  fate. 
Such  was  St.  Denis,  and  nobody,  not  even  the  wild 
and  untutored  Indian,  could  have  left  his  presence, 
without  at  least  a  vague  imp-  <jssion  that  he  had  seen 


JOURNEY    OF    ST.    DENIS    TO    MEXICO. 

one,  not  born  for  the  common  purposes  of  ordinary 

life. 

•  £ 

The  laborious  journey  of  St.  Denis,  from  Mobile 
to  Natchitoches,  the  incidents  connected  with  it,  the 
description  of  the  country  he  passed  through,  and  of 
all  the  tribes  of  Indians  he  visited,  would  furnish  suf- 
ficient materials  for  an  interesting  book.  But  what  an 
animated  picture  might  be  drawn  of  that  little  band  of 
Canadians,  with  St.  Denis  and  his  friend  Jallot,  the  ec- 
centric surgeon,  when  they  crossed  the  Sabine,  and 
entered  upon  the  ocean-like  prairies  of  the  present 
state  of  Texas  !  How  they  hallooed  with  joy,  when 
they  saw  the  immense  surface  which  spread  before 
them,  blackened  with  herds  of  buffaloes,  that  wallowed 
lazily  in  the  tall  luxuriant  grass,  which  afforded  them 
such  luscious  food  and  such  downy  couches  for  repose ! 
For  the  sake  of  variety,  the  travellers  would  some- 
times turn  from  nobler  to  meaner  game,  from  the 
hunchbacked  buffalo  to  the  timid  deer  that  crossed 
their  path.  Sometimes  they  would  stumble  on  a 
family  of  bears,  and  make,  at  their  expense,  a  de- 
licious repast,  which  they  enjoyed  comfortably  seated 
on  piled-up  skins,  the  testimonials  of  their  hunting  ex- 
ploits. Oh !  there  is  sweetness  in  the  prairie  air,  there 
is  a  richness  of  health  and  an  elasticity  of  spirit, 

"  Which  bloated  ease  ne'er  deigned  to  taste." 


SURGEON    JALLOT.  241 

But  these  pleasures,  exciting  as  they  were,  would 
perhaps  have  palled  upon  St.  Denis  and  his  compan- 
ions, and  might,  in  the  end  have  been  looked  upon  as 
tame  by  them,  from  the  frequency  of  their  repetition, 
if  they  had  not  been  intermingled  with  nobler  sport, 
which  consisted  in  oft-recurring  skirmishes  with  the 
redoubtable  Comanches,  upon  whose  hunting  grounds 
they  had  intruded.  On  these  occasions,  St.  Denis, 
protected  against  the  arrows  of  the  enemy  by  a  full 
suit  of  armor,  which  he  had  brought  from  Europe,  and 
mounted  on  a  small  black  jennet,  as  strong  as  an  ox 
and  as  fleet  as  the  wind,  would  rush  upon  the  aston- 
ished Indians,  and  perform  such  feats  with  his  battle- 
axe,  as  those  poor  savages  had  never  dreamed  of. 
These  encounters  gave  infinite  satisfaction  to  Jallot, 
who  was  a  passionate  lover  of  his  art,  and  who  never 
was  seen  in  a  good  humor,  except  when  he  was  tending 
a  wound.  In  that  respect,  with  the  Indians  he  had  very 
little  chance,  except  it  be  that  of  dissecting  them,  for. 
in  most  cases,  the  stroke  of  the  white  man's  weapon 
was  certain  and  instantaneous  death.  But  he  found 
some  compensation  in  the  numerous  wounds  inflicted 
by  the  Indians  on  his  own  companions  ;  he  had  a  fond- 
ness for  arrow  wounds,  which  he  declared  to  be  the 
nicest  and  genteelest  of  all  wounds.  One  day,  lie  was 
so  delighted  with  a  wound  of  this  kind,  which  he  pro- 
nounced, much  to  the  exasperation  of  his  patient,  to 


242  ST.    DENIS    ARRESTED 

be  supremely  beautiful,  that  he  actually  smiled  with 
self-gratulation  and  cracked  a  joke  ! — to  do  this,  his 
excitement  must  have  been  immense.  Another  day, 
when  an  Indian  had  been  struck  down  by  the  battle-axe 
of  St.  Denis,  without,  however,  being  killed  outright, 
he  felt  such  a  keen  professional  emotion  at  the  pros- 
"pect  of  probing  and  nursing  a  gash  which  he  thought 
rare  and  extraordinary,  that  he  franticly  jumped  upon 
St.  Denis,  hugged  him  with  enthusiasm,  called  him  his 
best  friend,  passionately  thanked  him  for  the  most  valu- 
able case  he  had  given  him,  and  swore  that  his  Indian 
should  be  carried  on,  whatever  impediment  it  might 
be  to  their  march,  until  he  died  or  was  cured.  Who 
would  have  thought  that  this  man,  when  he  was  not 
wielding  his  surgical  instruments,  was  the  most  hu- 
mane being  in  the  world,  and  concealed,  under  an  ap- 
pearance of  crabbed  malignity,  the  tenderest  sensibili- 
ties of  the  heart?  Such  are  the  mysteries  of  human 
nature ! 

St.  Denis  and  his  troop  reached  at  last  the  Rio 
Bravo,  at  a  Spanish  settlement  then  called  the  Fort  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  or  Presidio  del  Norte.  Don  Pedro 
de  Villescas  was  then  the  commander  of  that  place. 
He  received  the  French  with  the  most  courteous  hos- 
pitality, and  informed  them  that  he  could  not  make 
any  commercial  arrangements  with  them,  but  that  he 
would  submit  their  propositions  to  a  superior  officer, 


BY  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  CAOUIS.         243 

who  was  governor  of  the  town  of  Caouis,  situated  at 
the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  in  the 
interior.  Spaniards  are  not  famous  for  rapidity  of  ac- 
tion. Before  the  message  of  Villescas  was  carried  to 
Caouis,  and  before  the  expected  answer  came  back  to 
the  Presidio  del  Norte,  St.  Denis  had  loved,  not  with- 
out reciprocity,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  the  old  Don. 
What  a  pretty  tale. might  be  made  of  it,  which  would 
deserve  to  be  written  with  a  feather  dropped  from 
Cupid's  wing !  But  when  the  lovers  were  still  hesitat- 
ing as  to  the  course  they  would  pursue,  and  discussing 
the  propriety  of  making  a  full  disclosure  to  him  who, 
in  the  shape  of  a  father,  was  the  arbiter  of  their  des- 
tiny, there  arrived  twenty-five  men,  sent  by  Don  Gas- 
pardo  Anaya,  the  governor  of  Caouis,  with  secret  in- 
structions, which  were  soon  made  manifest,  to  the  dis- 
may of  the  lovers ;  for,  these  emissaries  seized  St. 
Denis  and  his  friend  Jallot,  and  conveyed  them  to 
Caouis,  where  they  were  detained  in  prison  until 
the  beginning  of  1715.  From  his  place  of  confine- 
ment, St.  Denis,  fearing  that  the  hostility  evinced 
towards  him,  might  be  extended  to  the  rest  of  his 
companions,  ordered  them  to  return  speedily  to  Natchi- 
toches. 

Ye  Bulwers  of  America,  I  invite  your  attention  ! 
Here  history  presents  you  with  the  ready-made  ground- 
work for  whatever  superstructure  and  embellishments 


244  TUB    LOVES    OF    ST.    DENIS 

you  may  choose  to  imagine  for  the  amusement  of  your 
readers. 

Don  Gaspardo  Anaya  had  been  the  unsuccessful 
suitor  of  Dona  Maria,  the  daughter  of  Villescas. 
What  must  have  been  his  rage,  when  he  was  informed 
by  his  spies  that  the  new  comer,  the  brilliant  French- 
man, had  triumphed,  where  he  had  failed  ?  But  now, 
he  had  that  hated  rival  in  his  clutches,  and  he  was 
omnipotent,  and  if  the  stranger  died  in  the  dungeon  of 
Caouis,  who,  in  these  distant  and  rugged  mountains, 
would  bring  him,  the  governor,  to  an  account  ?  Peril- 
ous indeed  was  the  situation  of  St.  Denis,  and  heavy 
must  have  been  his  thoughts  in  his  solitary  confine- 
ment !  But  what  must  have  been  his  indignation 
•when,  one  day,  Anaya  descended  into  his  dark  cell, 
and  told  him  that  he  should  be  set  free,  on  condition 
that  he  withdrew  his  plighted  faith  to  the  daughter  of 
Villescas  !  How  swelled  the  loyal  heart  of  the  captive 
at  this  base  proposal !  He  vouchsafed  no  answer,  but 
he  gave  his  oppressor  such  a  look  as  made  him  stagger 
back  and  retreat  with  as  much  precipitation,  as  if  the 
hand  of  immediate  punishment  had  been  lifted  up 
against  him. 

For  six  months,  St.  Denis  was  thus  detained  pris- 
oner, and  the  only  consideration  which  saved  his  life, 
was  the  hope,  on  the  part  of  Anaya,  that  prolonged 
sufferings  would  drive  his  victim  to  comply  with  his 


AND    DONNA    MARIA.  245 

request.  At  the  same  time,  he  repeatedly  sent  secret 
messengers  to  Dona  Maria,  whose  mission  was  to  in- 
form her  that  her  lover  would  be  put  to  death,  if  she 
did  not  wed  Anaya.  But  the  noble  Castilian  maid 
invariably  returned  the  same  answer :  "  Tell  Anaya 
that  I  cannot  marry  him,  as  long  as  St.  Denis  lives, 
because  St.  Denis  I  love  ;  and  tell  him  that  if  St. 
Denis  dies,  this  little  Moorish  dagger,  which  was  my 
mother's  gift,  shall  be  planted,  either  by  myself,  or  by 
my  agent's  hand,  in  the  middle  of  his  dastardly  heart, 
wherever  he  may  be."  This  was  said  with  a  gentle 
voice,  with  a  calm  mien,  as  if  it  had  been  an  ordinary 
message,  but  with  such  a  gleam  in  the  eye  as  is  no- 
where to  be  seen  except  in  Spain's  or  Arabia's  daugh- 
ters. The  words,  the  look  and  the  tone  were  minutely 
reported  to  Anaya,  and  he  paused  ! — and  it  is  well  that 
he  did  so,  and  a  bolder  heart  than  his  would  have  hesi- 
tated ;  he  knew  the  indomitable  spirit  of  his  race — he 
knew  the  old  Cantabrian  blood — and  that  Spain's 
sweetest  doves  will,  when  roused,  dare  the  eagle  to 
mortal  combat ! 

The  Spanish  maid  did  not  remain  inactive,  and 
satisfied  with  deploring  her  lover's  captivity.  She 
despatched  to  Mexico  a  trusty  servant,  such  as  is  only 
found  in  Spanish  households,  one  of  those  menials  that 
never  question  the  will  of  their  lord  or  lady,  dogs  for 
fidelity,  lions  for  courage,  who  will  tear  to  pieces  what- 


ST.    DENIS    SENT    PRISONER 

ever  is  designated  to  them,  if  such  be  the  order  of 
their  masters.  His  mission  was  to  find  out  the  means 
of  informing  the  Viceroy,  that  a  Frenchman,  a  pre- 
sumed spy,  had  been  for  several  months  in  the  hands 
of  the  governor  of  Caouis,  who  was  suspected  of 
concealing  his  captive  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
higher  authorities,  in  order  to  tamper  with  his  prisoner 
for  a  ransom.  The  object  of  this  false  information 
was  to  excite  the  jealous  attention  of  the  government, 
and  to  withdraw  St.  Denis,  at  all  risks,  from  the  dan- 
gerous situation  he  was  in.  This  stratagem  succeeded, 
and  much  to  his  astonishment,  Anaya  received  a 
peremptory  order  to  send  his  prisoner  to  Mexico, 
with  a  sure  escort,  and  at  the  peril  of  his  head,  if  he 
failed ! 

One  morning,  St.  Denis  found  himself  suddenly 
seated  on  a  strong,  powerful  horse,  amidst  a  detach- 
ment of  twenty  men,  who  were  evidently  prepared  for 
a  long  journey.  He  asked  whither  he  was  to  be  car- 
ried, and  was  particularly  inquisitive  about  his  friend 
Jallot,  who  had  been  put  into  a  separate  dungeon,  and 
of  whom  he  had  heard  nothing  since  his  captivity,  but 
he  was  dragged  away,  without  any  answer  being 
given  to  his  inquiries.  Seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
did  he  travel  without  stopping,  except  it  be  for  such 
time  as  was  absolutely  necessary  to  take  a  hurried  rest, 
when  the  magnificent  city  of  Mexico  burst  upon  his 


TO    THE    CITY    OF    MEXICO.  247 

sight,  in  all  its  imperial  splendor.  There,  he  flattered 
himself  that  he  would  obtain  justice,  but  he  soon  expe- 
rienced that  change  of  place  had  been  for  him  no  more 
than  a  change  of  captivity.  Look  at  the  woe-begone 
prisoner  in  that  horrible  dungeon,  where  he  is  chained 
to  the  wall,  like  a  malefactor!  His  constitution  is 
completely  broken  down  ;  his  body  is  so  emaciated  by 
his  long  sufferings  and  by  the  want  of  wholesome  food, 
that  it  presents  the  appearance  of  a  skeleton  ;  his  long 
matted  hair  shrouds  his  face,  and  his  shaggy  beard 
hangs  down  to  his  breast.  Who  would  have  recog- 
nized the  brilliant  St.  Denis  in  this  miserable  object,  in 
this  hideous-looking,  iron-bound  felon — a  felon  in 
aspect,  if  not  in  reality! 

One  day,  an  unusual  stir  was  observed  in  front  of 
his  prison.  The  short,  brief  word  of  command  outside, 
the  clashing  of  arms,  the  heavy  tramping  of  horses,  St. 
Denis  could  distinctly  hear  in  his  dismal  abode.  The 
noise  approached ;  the  doors  of  his  cell  turned  slowly 
on  their  rusty  hinges  ;  on  came  the  bustling  and  obse- 
quious jailer,  ushering  in  an  officer,  who  was  escorted 
by  a  file  of  soldiers.  It  was  one  whom  the  Viceroy 
had  ordered  to  examine  into  the  situation  of  all  the 
prisons  of  Mexico,  and  to  make  a  report  on  their  un- 
fortunate tenants.  "  Who  have  we  here  ?"  said  the 
officer,  in  an  abrupt  tone.  "I,"  exclaimed  St.  Denis, 
starting  to  his  feet,  "  I,  Juchereau  de  St.  Denis,  a  gen- 


248  ROMANTIC    RELEASE    OF 

tleman  by  birth,  a  prisoner  by  oppression,  and  now  a 
suitor  for  justice."  On  hearing  these  words,  the  officer 
started  back  and  looked  wild  with  astonishment ;  then, 
rushing  to  St.  Denis,  and  putting  his  face  close  to  his 
face,  removing  with  his  trembling  hand  the  dishevelled 
locks  that  concealed  the  prisoner's  features,  and  scan- 
ning every  lineament  with  a  rapid  but  intense  look,  he 
said,  with  a  quivering  voice,  which,  through  emotion, 
had  sunk  to  a  whisper,  "  You  were  born  in  Canada  ?" 
"  Yes."  "  Educated  in  France,  at  the  Royal  College  of 
Paris  ?" .  "  Yes."  "  You  left  France  to  seek  your  for- 
tune in  Louisiana?"  "  I  did."  "  By  heaven,  jailer,  off 
with  these  accursed  chains  !  quick !  set  those  noble 
limbs  free !"  And  he  threw  himself  sobbing  into  the 
arms  of  the  astonished  St.  Denis,  who  thought  himself 
the  dupe  of  a  dream,  but  who  at  last  recognized  in  his 
liberator,  one  of  the  companions  of  his  youth,  his  best 
early  friend,  the  Marquis  de  Larnage,  who,  with  some 
other  young  Frenchmen,  had  entered  into  the  Spanish 
army,  and  who  had  risen  to  be  the  Viceroy's  favorite 
aid-de-camp.  What  a  dramatic  scene  !  And  would 
not  this  incident  of  Louisianian  history  be  welcomed 
on  the  stage  by  an  American  audience  ! 

What  a  change !  Here  we  are  in  the  gorgeous 
halls  of  Montezuma,  where  the  barbaric  splendor  of  the 
Aztec  emperors  has  been  improved  by  the  more  correct 
and  tasteful  application  of  Spanish  magnificence  :  there 
is  a  festival  at  the  palace  of  the  Viceroy : — 


ST.    DENIS    FROM    PRISON.  249 

"  The  long  carousal  shakes  the  illumined  hall ; 
Well  speeds  alike  the  banquet  and  the  ball." 

Noble  and  beautiful  dames ! — Silk,  brocade,  and  dia- 
monds ! — Gentlemen  of  high  birth — renowned  soldiers 
— glittering  uniforms,  studded  with  stars  and  other  de- 
corations— breasts  scarred  with  wounds — brains  teem- 
ing with  aspirations — grave  magistrates — sage  council- 
lors— subtle  diplomatists — scheming  heads !  What  sub- 
jects for  observation !  The  walls  are  alive  with  paint- 
ings which  court  the  eye,  or  ornamented  with  mirrors 
which  multiply  the  reflected  beauty  of  the  glorious  pa- 
geantry. Now  and  then,  scions  of  the  greatest  houses 
of  Spain  ;  younger  sons,  that  had  been  sent  to  Mexico 
to  better  their  fortunes ;  men  whose  names,  when  pro- 
nounced, sound  like  a  trumpet  inciting  to  heroic  ex- 
ploits, would  make  their  appearance,  and  to  let  them 
pass,  the  crowd  of  brilliant  guests  would  reverentially 
open  their  ranks.  Such  is  the  involuntary  respect  paid, 
mechanically  as  it  were,  to  those  who  carry  round  their 
foreheads  the  agglomerated  rays  derived,  through  the 
magnifying  focus  of  one  thousand  years,  from  the  his- 
torical distinction  of  a  long,  uninterrupted  line  of  illus- 
trious ancestors ! 

Suddenly,  the  large  folding  doors  of  an  inner  apart- 
ment are  thrown  open,  and  the  Viceroy  is  seen  at  table, 
with  a  few  favored  and  envied  guests,  enjoying  the 
delicacies  of  the  most  gorgeous  banquet.  What  an 

12 


250        AFFECTION    OF    THE    VICEROY    FOR    ST.    DENIS. 

accumulated  treasure  of  gold  and  silver,  under  every 
form  that  convivial  imagination  can  fancy,  and  in  the 
shape  of  plates,  dishes,  chandeliers,  and  every  sort  of 
admirably  chiseled  vases !  But  who  is  that  noble-look- 
ing cavalier  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Viceroy?  Can 
it  be  St.  Denis,  the  late  tenant  of  a  gloomy  jail  ?  It  is. 
Presented  by  his  friend,  the  aid-de-camp,  to  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Majesty  of  Spain,  to  the  Duke  of  Li- 
nares, he  has  become  such  a  favorite  that  his  daily  and 
constant  attendance  is  required  at  court.  Nay,  the 
affection  which  the  Viceroy  had  conceived  for  St.  Denis, 
had  so  grown  upon  that  nobleman,  that  he  had  insisted 
upon  the  young  Frenchman  being  lodged  in  the  palace, 
where  every  favor  was  at  his  command.  The  whole 
city  of  Mexico  had  been  convulsed  with  astonishment 
at  the  unexpected  turn  of  fortune,  which  was  the  lot 
of  the  foreign  adventurer.  Marvelous  indeed,  and  in- 
explicable did  the  fascination  exercised  by  St.  Denis  on 
the  Viceroy,  seem  to  the  multitude  !  Instead  of  attri- 
buting it  perhaps  to  its  true  cause,  to  the  congenial 
affinity  of  mind  to  mind,  and  of  heart  to  heart,  they 
indulged  in  a  thousand  wild  conjectures.  At  last,  these 
surmises  had  settled  in  the  belief  that  St.  Denis  had 
saved  the  life  of  the  Viceroy,  in  a  nocturnal  adventure. 
It  was  positively  ascertained,  however,  that  St.  Denis, 
a  short  time  after  his  liberation,  passing  in  a  secluded 
street,  heard  the  clashing  of  swords.  Rushing  to  the 


TEMPTATION    OP    ST.    DENIS.  251 

spot  from  which  the  noise  of  conflict  came,  he  saw  a 
man  with  a  mask  on  his  face,  and  with  his  back  to  the 
wall  of  a  house,  who  was  sorely  pressed  by  three  other 
men,  masked  also,  who  were  attacking  him  with  the 
greatest  fury.  St.  Denis  took  side  with  the  weaker 
party,  and  put  to  flight  the  cowardly  assassins.  He 
never  said  to  whom  he  had  rendered  such  an  eminent 
service,  and  if  he  knew — 


;  He  shunned  to  show, 


As  hardly  worth  a  stranger's  care  to  know  ; 

If  still  more  prying  such  inquiry  grew, 

His  brow  fell  darker,  and  his  words  more  few." 

His  secret  died  with  him  ! 

Amidst  all  the  festivities  of  the  vice-regal  court, 
St.  Denis  had  but  one  thought,  one  aspiration,  that  of 
returning  to  his  lady  love,  and  to  his  friend  Jallot.  He 
had  even  refused  the  most  brilliant  proposals  from  the 
Viceroy,  such  as  a  high  grade  in  the  Spanish  army, 
saying,  "  I  can  serve  but  one  God  and  one  king.  I  am 
a  Frenchman,  and  highly  as  I  esteem  the  Spaniards,  I 
cannot  become  one."  "  But,"  replied  the  Viceroy,  "you 
are  already  half  a  Spaniard,  for  you  have  confessed  to 
me  that  you  love  a  Spanish  maid."  "  True,"  observed 
St.  Denis,  "  but  it  is  not  certain  that  I  can  marry  her, 
because  I  consider  her  father's  consent  as  doubtful." 
"  Well  then,  accept  my  offers,"  exclaimed  the  Viceroy, 


252  ST.    DENIS    REMAINS    FIRM. 

"  and  I  pledge  my  knightly  word  to  remove  every 
obstacle  that  may  be  in  your  way."  St.  Denis  ex- 
pressed his  thanks,  as  one  overwhelmed  with  gratitude 
at  such  kindness,  but  could  not  be  shaken  from  his 
determination.  "  At  least,"  continued  the  Viceroy,  "  do 
me  one  favor.  Do  not  depart  now.  Take  two  months 
for  reflection  on  what  you  reject.  When  that  delay 
shall  have  expired,  I  will  again  put  this  question  to  you 
— will  you  attach  yourself  to  my  person,  and  transfer 
your  allegiance  from  the  Bourbons  of  France  to  the 
Bourbons  of  Spain  ?"  The  two  months  rapidly  flew 
by,  and  the  chivalric  St.  Denis  remained  firm  to  his 
purpose.  "  To  lose  such  a  man  as  you  are,"  said  the 
Viceroy,  "  is  a  serious  trial  to  me,  but  I  admire,  even  in 
its  exaggeration,  the  sentiment  by  which  you  are  actu- 
ated. Farewell,  then,  and  may  God  bless  you  and 
yours  forever.  My  last  hope  is,  that  Dona  Maria  will 
induce  you  to  adopt  New  Spain  for  your  country. 
With  regard  to  the  commercial  relations,  which,  in  the 
name  of  the  governor  of  Louisiana,  you  have  asked 
me  to  permit  between  that  province  and  those  of  my 
government,  tell  him  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to 
accede  to  his  propositions."  The  preparations  of  St. 
Denis  for  his  departure  were  not  of  long  duration,  for 
the  lady  of  his  heart  beckoned  to  him  from  the  walls 
of  the  Presidio  del  Norte.  The  Viceroy  presented  him 
with  a  large  sum  in  gold,  which  he  graciously  said,  was 


JALLOT  AND  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  CAOU1S.  •   253 

intended  to  pay  his  wedding  expenses.  He  also  sent 
him,  for  his  journey,  a  superb  Andalusian  steed,  order- 
ing at  the  same  time  that  he  should  be  escorted  by  an 
officer  and  two  dragoons  from  the  city  of  Mexico  to 
Caouis, 

On  the  forced  departure  of  St.  Denis  for  the  city 
of  Mexico,  Jallot  had  been  set  at  liberty,  and  had  ever 
since  remained  at  Caouis  waiting  for  the  decision  of 
the  fate  of  St.  Denis.  He  was  known  to  be  a  physi- 
cian, and  as  he  was  the  only  one  within  a  radius  of 
one  hundred  miles,  he  was  soon  in  full  practice.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  months,  he  had  performed  so  many 
cures  and  rendered  so  many  services,  that  he  was 
looked  upon  as  something  almost  supernatural.  One 
day,  he  was  summoned  to  the  house  of  the  governor, 
Don  Gaspardo  Anaya,  whither  he  went  with  such  a 
grim  smile  as  clearly  indicated  that  his  feelings  were 
in  a  violent  state  of  excitement.  He  examined,  with 
the  most  minute  care,  the  body  of  that  dignitary,  and 
on  his  being  asked  his  opinion  on  the  situation  of  his 
patient,  he  went  into"  the  most  luminous  exposition  of 
his  disease,  and  declared  that  if  a  certain  operation, 
which  he  described  with  much  apparent  gusto,  was  not 
performed,  the  sick  man  would  certainly  die  within 
one  month.  "Well  then,"  said  the  governor,  "go  on 
with  the  operation,  as  soon  as  you  please."  "  It  shall 
never  please  me,"  cried  Jallot,  in  a  voice  of  thunder ; 


254  RETURN    OE    ST.    DENIS 

and  shaking  his  fist  at  the  enemy  of  St.  Denis,  whom, 
in  his  turn,  he  had  now  in  his  power,  he  doggedly 
withdrew  from  the  house  of  the  infuriated  governor. 
Remonstrances,  entreaties,  large  offerings  of  money, 
threats,  could  not  bring  him  back.  At  last,  the  gov- 
ernor swore  that  he  would  hang  Jallot,  and  he  sent 
some  soldiers  to  arrest  him.  But  the  people,  who  loved 
Jallot,  and  feared  being  deprived  of  his  invaluable  ser- 
vices, rose  upon  the  soldiery,  beat  them  off,  and  pro- 
claimed that  they  would  hang  the  governor  himself,  if 
he  persisted  in  his  intention  of  hanging  Jallot.  Mat- 
ters were  in  this  ticklish  situation,  when  St.  Denis  re- 
turned to  Caouis. 

In  company  with  his  friend  Jallot,  who  was  almost 
distracted  with  joy  at  his  safe  return,  St.  Denis  imme- 
diately waited  upon  the  governor,  to  whom  he  commu- 
nicated a  letter  patent,  by  which  the  Viceroy  gave 
authority  to  St.  Denis  to  inflict  upon  Anaya,  for  his 
abuse  of  power,  any  punishment  which  he  might  think 
proper,  provided  it  stopped  short  of  death.  The  terror 
of  the  governor  may  easily  be  conceived,  but  after  en- 
joying his  enemy's  confusion  for  a  short  time,  St.  Denis 
tore  to  pieces  the  Viceroy's  letter,  and  retired,  leaving  the 
culprit,  whom  he  despised,  to  the  castigation  of  heaven 
and  to  the  stings  of  his  own  conscience.  He  did  more : 
he  had  the  generosity  to  request  Jallot  to  perform  the 
operation  which  this  worthy  had  hitherto  so  obstinately 


TO    THE    PRESIDIO    DEL    NORTE.  255 

refused  to  do.  The  surgeon,  who  was  mollified  by  his 
friend's  return,  consented,  not  however  without  terrific 
grumblings,  to  use  his  surgical  skill  to  relieve  the  bed- 
ridden governor,  and  he  admirably  succeeded  in  the 
difficult  operation  upon  which  the  fate  of  his  patient 
depended.  But  he  peremptorily  and  contemptuously 
refused  the  fee  that  was  tendered  him,  and  informed 
the  governor,  face  to  face,  and  with  his  roughest  tone, 
that  he  deserved  no  remuneration  for  the  cure,  because 
he  had  saved  his  life  merely  out  of  spite,  and  under  the 
firm  conviction  that  he  would  ere  long  die  on  the  gal- 
lows. 

Let  us  now  rapidly  proceed  with  St.  Denis  from 
Caouis  to  the  Presidio  del  Norte.  There  he  found  a 
great  change  ; — not  that  the  lady  of  his  love  was  not 
as  true  and  as  beautiful  as  ever,  but  the  place  looked 
lonesome  and  desolate.  The  five  Indian  villages  which 
formed  a  sort  of  belt  round  the  Presidio,  at  a  short 
distance  from  its  walls,  were  deserted.  A  gloomy 
cloud  had  settled  over  the  spot  which  he  had  known  so 
brisk  and  thriving ; — and  Villescas  told  him,  with  the 
greatest  consternation,  that  the  Indians  had  withdrawn 
on  account  of  their  having  been  molested  by  the 
Spaniards,  who  used  to  go  to  their  villages,  and  there 
commit  every  sort  of  outrage ;  that  he  confessed  he 
was  much  to  be  blamed  for  not  having  checked  sooner 
the  disorderly  practices  of  his  subordinates  ;  and  that 

12* 


256  EMIGRATION    OF    THE    INDIANS 

if  the  Indians  persisted  in  their  intention  of  removing 
away  to  distant  lands,  the  government  at  Mexico,  whose 
settled  policy  it  was  to  conciliate  the  frontier  Indians, 
would  be  informed  of  what  had  happened,  and  would 
certainly  visit  him  with  punishment  for  official  miscon- 
duct, negligence  or  dereliction  of  duty.  "  I  will  run 
after  the  fugitives,"  exclaimed  St.  Denis,  "  and  use  my 
best  efforts  to  bring  them  back."  "  Do  so,"  replied  the 
old  man,  "  and  if  you  succeed,  there  is  nothing  in  my 
power,  which  I  can  refuse  you."  On  hearing  these 
words,  which  made  his  heart  thrill,  as  it  were,  with  an 
electric  shock,  St.  Denis  vaulted  on  his  good  Andalu- 
sian  steed,  and  started  full  speed  in  the  direction  the 
Indians  had  taken.  He  was  followed,  far  behind,  by 
Jallot,  who  came  trotting  along,  as  fast  as  he  could,  on 
a  restive,  capricious,  ill-looking  little  animal,  for  whom 
he  had  perversely  conceived  the  greatest  affection, 
perhaps,  on  account  of  his  bad  qualities. 

The  Indians,  encumbered  with  women  and  chil- 
dren, had  been  progressing  very  slowly,  with  the  heavy 
baggage  they  were  carrying  with  them,  and  St.  Denis 
had  not  travelled  long  before  he  discovered  from  the 
top  of  a  hill,  the  moving  train  ;  he  waved  a  white  flag 
and  redoubled  his  speed ;  the  Indians  stopped  and  tar- 
ried for  his  approach.  When  he  came  up  to  them,  they 
formed  a  dense  circle  around  him,  and  silently  waited 
for  his  communication.  "  My  friends !"  said  St.  Denis, 


FROM    THE    PRESIDIO.  257 

"  I  am  sent  by  the  governor  of  the  Presidio  del  Norte, 
to  tell  you  that  he  pleads  guilty  to  his  red  children ; 
he  confesses  that  you  have  been  long  laboring  under 
grievances  which  he  neglected  to  redress,  and  that  you 
have  been  frequently  oppressed  by  those  whom  it  was 
his  duty  to  keep  in  the  straight  path  of  rectitude. 
This  is  a  frank  avowal,  as  you  see.  With  regard  t 
the  governor  himself,  you  know  that  he  has  always 
been  kind  and  upright,  and  that,  personally  and  inten- 
tionally, he  has  never  wronged  any  one  of  you :  the  old 
chief  has  been  too  weak  with  his  own  people — that  is 
all  you  can  say  against  him.  But  now,  he  pledges  his 
faith  that  no  Spaniard  shall  be  allowed  to  set  his  foot 
in  -your  villages  without  your  express  consent,  and 
that  every  sort  of  protection  which  you  may  claim 
shall  be  extended  over  your  tribe.  Do  not,  therefore, 
be  obstinate,  my  friends,  and  do  not  keep  shut  the  gates 
of  your  hearts,  when  the  pale-faced  chief,  with  his 
gray  hairs,  knocks  for  admittance,  but  let  his  words  of 
repentance  fall  upon  your  souls,  like  a  refreshing  dew, 
and  revive  your  drooping  attachment  for  him.  Do  not 
give  up  your  hereditary  hunting  grounds,  the  cemete- 
ries of  your  forefathers,  and  your  ancestral  villages, 
with  rash  precipitancy.  Whither  are  you  going  ? 
Your  native  soil  does  not  stick  to  your  feet,  and  it  is 
the  only  soil  which  is  always  pleasant ;  and  the  wheat 
which  grows  upon  it,  is  the  only  grain  that  will  give 


258  ST.  DENIS'  SPEECH  TO  THE  INDIANS. 

you  tasteful  bread ;  and  the  sun  which  shines  upon  it, 
is  the  only  sun  whose  rays  do  not  scorch ;  and  the  re- 
freshing showers  which  fall  upon  its  bosom,  would 
elsewhere  be  impure  and  brackish  water.  You  do  not 
know  what  bitter  weeds  grow  in  the  path  of  the 
stranger !  You  do  not  know  how  heavily  the  air  he 
breathes  weighs  on  his  lungs,  in  distant  lands !  And 
what  distant  lands  will  you  be  permitted  to  occupy, 
without  fighting  desperate  battles  with  the  nations 
upon  whose  territory  you  will  have  trespassed  ?  When 
you  will  be  no  longer  protected  by  the  Spaniards,  how 
will  you  resist  the  incessant  attacks  of  the  ferocious 
Comanches,  who  carry  so  far  and  wide  their  predatory 
expeditions  ?  Thus,  my  friends,  the  evils  you  are  run- 
ning to,  are  certain,  and  behind  them,  lie  concealed  in 
ambush,  still  greater  ones,  which  the  keenest  eye 
among  you  cannot  detect.  But  what  have  you  to  fear, 
if  you  return  to  your  deserted  villages  ?  There,  it  is 
true,  you  will  meet  some  old  evils,  but  you  are  accus- 
tomed to  them.  That  is  one  advantage  ;  and,  besides, 
you  are  given  the  assurance  that  to  many  of  them  a 
remedy  will  be  applied.  Why  not  make  the  experi- 
ment, and  see  how  it  will  work  ?  But  if  you  persist 
in  going  away,  and  if  you  fare  for  the  worse,  your 
situation  will  be  irretrievable.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
you  return,  as  I  advise  you,  should  the  governor  of  the 
Presidio  not  keep  his  word,  and  should  you  not  be  sat- 


HE  PREVAILS  ON  THEM  TO  RETURN.       259 

• 

isfied,  it  will  always  be  time  enough  to  resume  your 
desperate  enterprise  of  emigration." 

This  is  the  substance  of  what  St.  Denis  told  his 
red  auditory,  and  the  Indians,  who,  perhaps,  were  be- 
ginning to  regret  the  step  they  had  taken,  spontane- 
ously marched  back,  with  St.  Denis  riding  triumph- 
antly at  their  head.  They  soon  met  Jallot,  jogging 
along  with  impatience,  cursing  and  spurring  his  favor- 
ite with  desperate  energy.  When  he  saw  that  St. 
Denis,  about  whom  he  was  extremely  uneasy,  was  safe, 
and  had  succeeded  so  well  in  his  embassy,  he  gave  a 
shout  which  made  the  welkin  ring ;  but  he  was  so  as- 
tonished at  his  own  doing,  and  at  the  unusual  sound 
which  had  so  strangely  issued  from  his  throat,  that  he 
looked  round  like  a  man  who  was  not  very  sure  of 
his  own  identity.  Those  who  knew  him  well,  re- 
mained convinced  that  this  shout  had  settled  in  his 
mind,  as  the  most  extraordinary  event  of  his  life. 

Now,  all  is  joy  again  at  the  Presidio,  and  the  smile 
of  contentment  has  lighted  up  the  face  of  the  country 
for  miles  around.  From  the  Spanish  battlements,  ban- 
ners wave  gayly,  the  cannons  crack  their  sides  with 
innocent  roaring,  muskets  are  discharged  in  every  di- 
rection, but  from  their  tubes,  there  do  not  sally  any 
murderous  balls  ;  the  whole  population,  white  and  red, 
is  dressed  in  its  best  apparel  ;  whole  sheep,  oxen,  and 
buflaloes  are  roasted  in  the  Homeric  style  ;  immense 


260  MARRIAGE    OF    ST.    DENIS. 

• 

tables  are  spread  in  halls,  bowers,  and  under  shady 
trees ;  whole  casks  of  Spanish  wines  and  of  the  Mexi- 
can pulque  are  broached ;  the  milk  and  honey  of  the 
land  flow  with  unrestrained  abundance ;  the  Indians 
shout,  dance,  and  cut  every  sort  of  antics.  Well  may 
all  rejoice,  for  it  is  the  wedding-day  of  St.  Denis  and 
Dona  Maria !  Here  the  long  and  beautiful  procession 
which  is  slowly  moving  to  the  rustic  parochial  church, 
might  be  described  with  some  effect,  but  I  leave  the 
task  to  future  novel  writers.  I  now  dismiss  this  epi- 
sode, and  only  regret  that  I  have  not  done  it  the  jus- 
tice which  it  deserves.  Let  me  add,  however,  that, 
after  an  absence  of  two  years,  St.  Denis,  having  re- 
turned to  Mobile,  with  Don  Juan  de  Villescas,  the 
uncle  of  his  wife,  was  appointed,  in  reward  for  the  dis- 
charge of  his  perilous  mission,  a  captain  in  the  French 
army. 

On  the  recommendation  of  Crozat,  another  under- 
taking was  made  to  open  commercial  relations  with 
the  Spanish  provinces  of  Mexico.  Three  Canadians, 
Delery,  Lufreniere  and  Beaujeu,  were  intrusted  with 
a  considerable  amount  of  merchandise,  went  up  Red 
River,  and  endeavored  to  reach  the  province  of  Nuevo 
Leon,  through  Texas ; — -but  this  attempt  was  as  unsuc- 
cessful as  the  one  made  by  St.  Denis. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1717,  three  ships  belonging  to 
Crozat,  arrived  with  three  companies  of  infantry  and 


ARRIVAL    OP    DE    I/EPINAY.  261 

fifty  colonists,  with  De  1'Epinay,  the  new  governor, 
and  Hubert,  the  king's  commissary.  L'Epinay  brought 
to  Bienville  the  decoration  of  the  cross  of  St.  Louis, 
and  a  royal  patent,  conceding  to  him,  by  mean  tenure 
in  soccage,  Horn  Island,  on  the  coast  of  the  present 
state  of  Alabama.  Bienville  had  demanded  in  vain 
that  it  be  erected  in  his  favor,  into  a  noble  fief. 

Hardly  had  L'Epinay  landed,  when  he  disagreed 
with  Bienville,  and  the  colony  was  again  distracted  by 
two  factions,  with  L'Epinay  on  one  side  and  Bienville 
on  the  other.  There  were  not  at  that  time  in  Louisi- 
ana more  than  seven  hundred  souls,  including  the 
military  ;  and  thus  far,  the  efforts  of  Crozat  to  increase 
the  population  had  proved  miserably  abortive.  In  vain 
had  his  agents  resorted  to  every  means  in  their  power, 
to  trade  with  the  Spanish  provinces,  either  by  land  or 
by  sea,  either  legally  or  illegally ; — several  millions 
worth  of  merchandise  which  he  had  sent  to  Louisiana, 
with  the  hope  of  their  finding  their  way  to  Mexico, 
had  been  lost,  for  want  of  a  market.  In  vain  also  had 
expensive  researches  been  made  for  mines,  and  pearl 
fisheries.  As  to  the  trading  in  furs  with  the  Indians,  it 
hardly  repaid  the  cost  of  keeping  factories  among  them. 
Thus,  all  the  schemes  of  Crozat  had  failed.  The  mis- 
erable European  population,  scattered  over  Louisiana, 
was  opposed  to  his  monopoly,  and  contributed,  as  much 
us  they  could,  to  defeat  his  plans.  As  to  the  officers, 


262  CROZAT    SURRENDERS    HIS    CHARTER. 

they  were  too  much  engrossed  by  their  own  interest 
and  too  intent  upon  their  daily  quarrels,  to  mind  any 
thing  else.  There  was  but  one  thing  which,  to  the 
despairing  Crozat,  seemed  destined  to  thrive  in  Louis- 
iana— that  was,  the  spirit  of  discord. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  August,  1717, 
Crozat,  finding  that  under  the  new  governor,  L'Epinay, 
things  were  likely  to  move  as  lamely  as  before,  ad- 
dressed to  the  king  a  petition,  in  which  he  informed  his 
Majesty,  that  his  strength  was  not  equal  to  the  enter- 
prise he  had  undertaken,  and  that  he  felt  himself 
rapidly  sinking  under  the  weight  which  rested  on  his 
shoulders,  and  from  which  he  begged  his  Majesty  to 
relieve  him.  On  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  the 
Prince  of  Bourbon  and  Marshal  D'Estre"es  accepted,  in 
the  name  of  the  king,  Crozat's  proposition  to  give  up 
the  charter  which  he  had  obtained  under  the  preceding 
reign. 

Against  his  adverse  fate,  Crozat  had  struggled  for 
five  years,  but  his  efforts  had  been  gradually  slackening, 
in  proportion  with  the  declining  health  of  his  daughter. 
The  cause  of  his  gigantic  enterprise  had  not  escaped 
her  penetration,  and  she  had  even  extorted  from  him  a 
full  confession  on  the  subject.  In  the  first  two  years 
of  her  father's  quasi  sovereignty  over  Louisiana,  she 
had  participated  in  the  excitement  of  the  paternal 
breast,  and  had  been  buoyed  up  by  hope.  But  although 


DEATH    OF    HIS    DAUGHTER.  263 

her  father  tried,  with  the  utmost  care,  to  conceal  from 
her  the  ill  success  of  his  operations,  she  soon  discovered 
enough  to  sink  her  down  to  a  degree  of  despair,  suffi- 
cient to  undermine  in  her,  slowly  but  surely,  the  frail 
foundations  of  life  ;  and  when  Crozat,  losing  all  cou- 
rage, abandoned  to  the  tossing  waves  of  adversity,  the 
ship  in  which  he  had  embarked  the  fortune  of  his 
house,  his  daughter  could  hardly  be  called  a  being  of 
this  world.  On  the  very  day  that  he  had  resigned  the 
charter,  on  which  reposed  such  ambitious  hopes,  and 
had  come  back,  broken-hearted,  to  his  desolate  home, 
he  was  imprinting  a  kiss  on  his  daughter's  pale  fore- 
head, and  pressing  her  attenuated  hands  within  his 
convulsive  ones,  when  her  soul  suddenly  disengaged 
itself  from  her  body,  carrying  away  the  last  paternal 
embrace  to  the  foot  of  the  Almighty's  throne. 

Crozat  laid  her  gently  back  on  the  pillow,  from 
which  she  had  half  risen,  smoothed  her  clothes,  joined 
her  fingers  as  it  were  in  prayer,  and  sleeked  her  hair 
with  the  palm  of  his  hands,  behaving  apparently  with 
the  greatest  composure.  Not  a  sound  of  complaint,  not 
a  shriek  of  anguish  was  heard  from  him :  his  breast  did 
not  become  convulsed  with  sobs  ;  not  a  muscle  moved 
in  his  face.  He  looked  as  if  he  had  been  changed  into 
a  statue  of  stone  :  his  rigid  limbs  seemed  to  move  au- 
tomaton-like; his  eyeballs  became  fixed  in  their  sockets, 
and  his  eyelids  lost  their  powers  of  contraction.  Calmly, 


264  CROZAT'S  DEATH. 

but  with  an  unearthly  voice,  he  gave  all  the  necessary 
orders  for  the  funeral  of  his  daughter,  and  even  went 
into  the  examination  of  the  most  minute  details  of  these 
melancholy  preparations.  Those  who  saw  him,  said 
that  he  looked  like  a  dead  man,  performing  with  uncon- 
scious regularity  all  the  functions  of  life.  It  was  so 
appalling,  that  his  servants  and  the  few  attending 
friends,  who  had  remained  attached  to  his  falling  for- 
tune, receded  with  involuntary  shudder  from  his  ap- 
proach, and  from  the  touch  of  his  hand,  it  was  so  icy 
cold !  At  last,  the  gloomy  procession  reached  the  solemn 
place  of  repose.  The  poor  father  had  followed  it  on 
foot,  with  his  hand  resting  on  his  daughter's  coffin,  as 
if  afraid  that  what  remained  of  the  being  he  had  loved 
so  ardently,  might  flee  away  from  him.  When  the 
tomb  was  sealed,  he  waved  away  the  crowd.  They 
dared  not  disobey,  when  such  grief  spoke,  and  Crozat 
remained  alone.  For  a  while,  he  stood  staring,  as  in  a 
trance,  at  his  daughter's  tomb :  then,  a  slight  twitch  of 
the  muscles  of  the  face,  and  a  convulsive  quiver  of  the 
lips  might  have  been  seen.  Sensibility  had  returned  ! 
He  sunk  on  his  knees,  and  from  those  eyes,  so  long  dry, 
there  descended,  as  from  a  thunder-cloud,  a  big  heavy 
drop,  on  the  cold  sepulchral  marble.  It  was  but  one 
solitary  tear,  the  condensed  essence  of  such  grief  as  the 
human  body  cannot  bear ;  and  as  this  pearly  fragment 
of  the  dew  of  mortal  agony  fell  down  on  the  daughter's 


CONCLUSION.  ^  265 

sepulchre,  the  soul  of  the  father  took  .-its  flight  to  heaven. 
Crozat  was  no  more  !  f 


"  My  task  is  done  —  my  song  hath  ceased—  r«tiy  th^pe 
Has  died  into  an  echo  :  it^§  fit 
The  spell  should  break  op-this  protracted  dream  — 
The  torch  shall  be  extinguished  whiclyfiath  lit 
My  midnight  lamp  —  and  -what  is  writ,  'is  writ,  — 
Would  it  were  worthier*!     But  I  am  not  now 
That  which  I  have  been  —  and  my  visions  flit 
Less  palpably  before  maraud  the  glow, 

Which  in  my  spirit  dwelt,  is  fluttering,  faint  and  low." 

"  Farewell  !  a  word  that  must  be,  aniftiath  been  — 
A  sound  which  makJRs  us  linger  —  yet^fajrfwell  !" 


NOTE. — Crozat  died  in  1738,  !rt  the  age  of  eighty-three. 
He  had  several  sons  and  one  daughter,  Marie  Anne  Crozat, 
who  married  Le  Comte  D'Evreux.  I  hope  I  shall  be  forgiven 
for  having  slightly  deviated  from  historical  truth  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  with  regard  to  particulars  which  I  deemed  of 
no  importance.  For  instance,  I  changed  the  name  of  Crozat 's 
daughter.  Why  ?  Perhaps  it  was  owing  to  some  capricious 
whim — perhaps  there  is  to  me  some  spell  in  the  name  of 
Andrea. 

THE    KM). 


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STANDARD  HISTORICAL  WORKS. 

Published  by  D.  Applelon  Sf  Co 
THE   HISTORY   OF   ROME, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD. 

BY   THOMAS    ARNOLD,   D.  D., 
Late  Head  Masta  of  Rugby  School,  and  Regius  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of 

Oxlbrd. 

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professedly  imitated  Niebuhr ;  yet  while  he  adopted  many  of  the  theories,  and  followed 
in  the  footsteps  of  that  great  master  of  historical  philosopliy,  he  was  not  a  copyist,  nor  a 
mere  compiler,  for  his  own  work  is  replete  with  spirit  and  originality." — Cincinnati  Jltlas 
HISTORY  OF 

THE  LATER  ROMAN  COMMONWEALTH, 

BY   THOMAS   ARNOLD,   D.  D. 

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LECTURES   ON  MODERN   HISTORY, 

BY    THOMAS    ARNOLD,  D.  D. 

With  an  Introduction  and  Notes,  by  HENRY  REED,  Professor  of  English  Literature  ia 
.    4  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

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A  MANUAL  OF  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  HISTORY, 

BY    W.    COOKE    TAYLOR,    LL.    D., 
Of  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

REVISED,  WITH  ADDITIONS  ON  AMERICAN  HISTORY, 

BY  C.  S.  HENRY,  D.  D., 
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HISTORY   OF   GERMANY, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

BY  FREDERICK  KOHLRAUSCH, 
Chief  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  and  late  Professor  »f 

History  in  the  Polytechnic  School. 

Translated  from  the  last  German  edition,  by  JAMES  D.  HAAS. 
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cloth,  $1  50. 

"  Its  merits  are  conciseness,  clearness,  and  accuracy." — JVew  Orleans  Bee, 
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libraries. " — Southern  Church  man. 


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